īdṛśān aśivān ghorān ācārān iha jājale |
kevalācaritatvāt tu nipuṇo nāvabudhyase ||
kāraṇād dharmam anvicchen na loka-caritaṁ caret |
(Mahābhārata: 12.262.51–2)
[Tulādhāra:] “O Jājali, such inauspicious and dreadful activities exist here [i.e., in this world] only because of their being customary, and not because you consider them proper. One should follow dharma because of reason. One should not [simply] do what is done by people in general.”
kṛṣṇa kene daraśana dibe kali-kāle? |
nija-bhrame mūrkha-loka kare kolāhale ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.18.101)
“[Mahāprabhu to Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya:] Why would Kṛṣṇa give darśana in the Age of Kali? As a result of their own misunderstanding, foolish people make a tumult.”
tabe tāre kahena prabhu cāpaḍa māriyā |
mūrkhera vākye mūrkha hailā paṇḍita ha-iyā ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.18.100)
“Prabhu then slapped him [i.e., Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya, and said], ‘Because of the words of fools, you [too] have become a fool [even] while being a paṇḍita [i.e., although you are learned, you have failed to deliberate on what you have heard and thus acted like a fool].”
divā paśyati nolūkaḥ kāko naktaṁ na paśyati |
apūrvaḥ ko’pi kāmāndhaḥ divā naktaṁ na paśyati ||
(Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāra)
“An owl cannot see during the day, and a crow cannot see during the night, but indeed how peculiar is it that one who is blinded by kāma cannot see during the day or the night.”
cirād āśā-mātraṁ tvayi viracayantaḥ sthira-dhiyo
vidadhyur ye vāsaṁ madhurima-gabhīre madhupure |
dadhānaḥ kaiśore vayasi sakhitāṁ gokula-pate
prapadyethās teṣāṁ paricayam avaśyaṁ nayanayoḥ ||
(Lalita-mādhava-nāṭakam: 10.37)
“[Rādhā to Kṛṣṇa:] O Lord of Gokula, please appear bearing your companionship in your adolescent age [i.e., accompanied by your friends beginning with Śrīdāma in your form of an adolescent flute-player] before the eyes of those of steady mind who have long resided in profoundly sweet Madhupurī [i.e., Mathurā Maṇḍala] desiring only you.”
kākaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ pikaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ ko bhedaḥ pika-kākayoḥ |
vasanta-samaye prāpte kākaḥ kākaḥ pikaḥ pikaḥ ||
(Unknown source)
“A crow is black, and a cuckoo is black. What is the difference between a crow and a cuckoo? When spring time arrives, a crow is a crow, a cuckoo is a cuckoo.”
apasaraṇam eva śaraṇaṁ maunaṁ vā tatra rajahaṁsasya |
kaṭu raṭati nikata-vartī vācālaṣ ṭiṭṭibho yatra |
(Unknown source)
“A royal swan simply retreats or takes recourse to silence there where a nearby talkative ṭiṭṭibha (lapwing, Vanellus indicus) bitterly bawls.”
kas tvaṁ lohita-locanāsy acaraṇaḥ haṁsaḥ kuto mānasāt
kiṁ tatrāsti suvarṇa-paṅkaja-vanāny aṁbhaḥ sudhā-sannibham |
ratnānāṁ nicayāḥ pravāla-maṇayo vaidūrya-rohāḥ kvacit
śambūkā api santi neti ca bakair ākarṇya hīhīkṛtam ||
(Unknown Source)
“[Cranes inquire:] ‘Who are you, O red-eyed one? You are legless.’
‘I am a swan [whose legs are invisible while floating on water].’
‘From where?’
‘From Mānasa [Sarovara].’
‘What is there?’
‘Clusters of golden lotuses, water like nectar, stores of gems, coral ingots, and lodes of cat’s-eye.’
‘Are there also snails there?’
‘No.’
Hearing this, the cranes laughed [at the swan].”
haṁsās sarvāṅga-śucayaḥ padmebhyo bahir āsate |
antarviśānti madhupāḥ śrīmatāṁ gatir īdṛśī ||
(Unknown source)
“Swans, who are white all over their body, remain outside lotus flowers. Bees [lit. “nectar-drinkers”] enter within [them]. The way of the exalted is such.”
haṁsaḥ śveto bakaḥ śvetaḥ ko bhedo baka-haṁsayoḥ |
nīra-kṣīra-viveke tu haṁso haṁso bako bakaḥ ||
(Unknown source)
“A swan is white; a stork is white.
What is the difference between a swan and a stork?
In discriminating between water and milk,
A swan is a swan, and a stork is a stork
[i.e., one can do so and the other cannot].”
