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 only goal of a student must be earning knowledge (vidyā)! To keep his focus on the goal he should avoid disruptive situations with conscious effort. For that, a student must shun the following 8 undesirable attributes.

1. Desire—deviates from the goal and takes all the energy into fulfilling that desire.
2. Anger—clouds judgment.
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. 
6. Vehemence—learning takes a lot of patience and thinking. Getting emotional and becoming impatient is not coherent with learning.
7. Oversleep—rest is required but in proper proportions. Sleeping too much mars alertness and paves the 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 unduly subservient dispels one's ability to think on his own. One of the requirements for learning is inquisitiveness. An excessively subservient learner takes every word literally and does not inculcate independent thinking.

Beware of these 8 hurdles on the path of learning. Obstacles must be overcome through strategy and learning from experiences.  When that is done, 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 ॥