April 6th

Sanskrit Pearl of the day:
कामं क्रोधं तथा लोभं स्वादं शृङ्गारकौतुके ।
अतिनिद्राऽतिसेवा च विद्यार्थी ह्यष्टवर्जयेत् ॥
- चाणक्य नीति

Transliteration:
kāmaṃ krodhaṃ tathā lobhaṃ svādaṃ śṛṅgārakautuke ।
atinidrā'tisevā ca vidyārthī hyaṣṭavarjayet ॥
- cāṇakya nīti

Meaning of the subhAShita:

These 8 should be shunned by a student: desire; anger; avarice; taste; eroticism; vehemence; too much sleep; and overly tending.

Commentary:

The sole goal of a student should be earning knowledge (vidyā). In order to keep his focus on the goal, he should avoid disruptive situations with a vengeance. For that, a student should shun the following 8 undesirable attributes.

1. Desire: deviates the goal and takes all the energy in the fulfilment of that desire.
2. Anger: clouds judgement.
3. Avarice (greed): delineates from the ethics being learnt.
4. Taste: weaknesses of the palate draw away from learning in many ways - health, alertness, and aptitude.
5. Eroticism: this has no place in a student's life. Indulgence and learning do not go hand in hand as they take the individual in completely opposite directions. No saying beyond that!
6. Vehemence: learning takes a lot of patience and thinking. Getting emotional and impatient is nowhere coherent with learning.
7. Oversleep: rest is required but in proper proportions. Sleeping too much mars alertness and paves way for laziness. Losing precious time that could be utilized in learning is a whole other issue.
8. Overly tending: tending to elders and teachers is very much professed. But being overly subservient dispels one's ability to think on his own. One of the requirements for learning is inquisitiveness. A totally subservient learner takes every word for granted and does not promote independent thinking.

Beware of these 8 hurdles on the path of learning. If you do, then you are already halfway towards success!

pada vigrahaH:
कामं क्रोधं तथा लोभं स्वादं शृङ्गार-कौतुके ।
kāmaṃ krodhaṃ tathā lobhaṃ svādaṃ śṛṅgāra-kautuke ।

अति-निद्रा अति-सेवा च विद्यार्थी हि अष्ट-वर्जयेत् ॥
ati-nidrā ati-sevā ca vidyārthī hi aṣṭa-varjayet ॥

Alternate Transliteration:
kaamaM krodhaM tathaa lobhaM svaadaM shRu~ngaarakautuke ।
atinidraa.tisevaa cha vidyaarthI hyaShTavarjayet ॥
- chaaNakya nIti

kaamaM krodhaM tathaa lobhaM svaadaM shRu~ngaara-kautuke ।

ati-nidraa ati-sevaa cha vidyaarthI hi aShTa-varjayet ॥