May 15th

Sanskrit Pearl of the day:
यन्मातापितरौ वृत्तं तनये कुरुतः सदा ।
न सुप्रतिकारं तत्तु मात्रा पित्रा च यत्कृतम् ॥
- रामायण, अयोध्याकाण्ड

Transliteration:
yanmātāpitarau vṛttaṃ tanaye kurutaḥ sadā ।
na supratikāraṃ tattu mātrā pitrā ca yatkṛtam ॥
- rāmāyaṇa, ayodhyākāṇḍa

Meaning of the subhAShita:

The deeds (that are) constantly done by mother and father for their children... there is no requital for those actions performed by the parents.

Commentary:

Parents work tirelessly for the welfare of their children. From the moment they become aware of their status as parents-to-be, they constantly think of nothing else but the well-being of their child/children and work tirelessly in their own ways to make the child as good an individual as possible. Every parent wants their children to be better than themself. In fact, they rejoice when their offspring surpasses them in their achievements (पुत्रादिच्छेत् पराजयम्, putrādicchet parājayam—parents desire to be surpassed by their children).

No amount of wealth or money can outweigh the parents' dedication to their children. There is nothing in this world that one can give to his parents to offset their efforts! The one meager effort he can make is: that he can try and emulate all the values his parents tried to imbibe in him. Parents are happiest when their children live worthy lives!

Like they say, to understand a parent's love, one must raise children himself. Then it becomes evident to him that—there is no retribution to it!

pada vigrahaH:
यत् माता-पितरौ वृत्तं तनये कुरुतः सदा ।
yat mātā-pitarau vṛttaṃ tanaye kurutaḥ sadā ।

न सुप्रतिकारं तत् तु मात्रा पित्रा च यत् कृतम् ॥
na supratikāraṃ tat tu mātrā pitrā ca yat kṛtam ॥

Alternate Transliteration:
yanmaataapitarau vRuttaM tanaye kurutaH sadaa ।
na supratikaaraM tattu maatraa pitraa cha yatkRutam ॥
- raamaayaNa, ayodhyaakaaNDa

yat maataa-pitarau vRuttaM tanaye kurutaH sadaa ।

na supratikaaraM tat tu maatraa pitraa cha yat kRutam ॥