na ca paśyati janmāndhaḥ kāmāndho naiva paśyati |
na paśyati madonmatto hy arthī doṣān na paśyati ||
(Cāṇakya-nīti-darpaṇa: 6.8)
“Neither can one who is blind from birth see, nor can one who is blinded by lust see, nor one can one who is intoxicated by pride see, nor can one who seeks wealth see faults [in one’s actions and their consequences].”
na ca paśyati janmāndhaḥ Read on →
yatra vidvaj-jano nāsti ślāghyas tatrālpa-dhīr api |
nirasta-pādape deśe eraṇḍo’pi drumāyate ||
(Hitopadeśa: Mitra-lābha, 70; Subhāṣita-ratna-samuccaya)
“Where there is no wise person, even someone of little intelligence becomes venerable. In a land devoid of trees, even a castor-oil plant seems like [i.e., is considered to be] a tree.”
yatra vidvaj-jano nāsti Read on →
yasya nāsti svayaṁ prajñā śāstraṁ tasya karoti kim |
locanābhyāṁ vihīnasya darpaṇaḥ kiṁ kariṣyati ||
(Cāṇakya-nīti-darpaṇa: 10.9)
“What does the śāstra do for he who himself has no discernment [alt., intelligence]? What can a mirror do for he who has no eyes?”
yasya nāsti svayaṁ prajñā Read on →
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.”
īdṛśān aśivān ghorān Read on →
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].”
tabe tāre kahena prabhu cāpaḍa māriyā Read on →
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.”
divā paśyati nolūkaḥ Read on →
tvaṁ sarva-lokasya suhṛt priyeśvaro
hy ātmā gurur jñānam abhīṣṭa-siddhiḥ |
tathāpi loko na bhavantam andha-dhīr
jānāti santaṁ hṛdi baddha-kāmaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.24.52)
[Satyavrata Rāja to Matsya Avatāra:] “You are the friend, beloved, lord, self, guru, awareness, and desired attainment of all people. Still, a person of blind mind, bound by desire in the heart, does not understand you, who are pure.”
tvaṁ sarva-lokasya suhṛt priyeśvaro Read on →
