Foolishness – Page 3 – Anuśīlana.in

yadā kiñcij-jño’haṁ dvipa iva madāndhas samabhavaṁ

yadā kiñcij-jño’haṁ dvipa iva madāndhas samabhavaṁ
tadā sarvajño’smīty abhavad avaliptaṁ mama manaḥ |
yadā kiñcit kiñcid budhajana-sakāśād avagataṁ
tadā mūrkho’smīti jvara iva mado me vyapagataḥ ||
(Nīti-śatakam: 8)

“When I had a little knowledge
and became blinded with pride
like an elephant [in rut],
then my mind became arrogant,
as I thought, ‘I know everything.’
When I understood a little something from wise persons,
then I thought, ‘I am a fool,’
and my pride faded away like a fever.

Read on →

anyāyaḥ prauḍhavādena

anyāyaḥ prauḍhavādena nīyate nyāyatāṁ yayā |
nyāyaś cānyāyatāṁ lobhāt kiṁ tayā kṣudra-vidyayā ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 1798)

“Of what good is that meager learning which, because of [one’s] greed, with meager learning turns the improper into propriety and the proper into impropriety [alt., the unjust into justice and the just into injustice]?”

Read on →

alaso manda-buddhiś ca

alaso manda-buddhiś ca sukhī ca vyādhi-pīḍitaḥ |
nidrāluḥ kāmukaś caiva ṣaḍ ete śāstra-varjitāḥ ||
(Unknown source)

“The lazy, the dull-witted, the happy-go-lucky, those plagued by disease, the slumberous, and the lustful—these six are excluded by śāstra [i.e., they lack the qualifications needed to follow the teachings given in the śāstra and thus the teachings of the śāstra are not applicable to them; they will not attain the ideals taught in śāstra, and those who wish to attain such ideals should avoid their association].”

Read on →

atiśaucam aśaucaṁ vā

atiśaucam aśaucaṁ vā atinindā atistutiḥ |
atyācāram anācāraṃ ṣaḍ-vidhaṁ mūrkha-lakṣaṇam ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)

“The six characteristics of a fool are (1) excessive cleanliness [i.e., obsessive concern regarding cleanliness], (2) uncleanliness, (3) excessive criticism, (4) excessive praise, (5) excessive propriety [i.e., pretension, affectation, theatricality, artificiality, etc.], and (6) impropriety.”

Read on →

aloka-sāmānyam acintya-hetukaṁ

aloka-sāmānyam acintya-hetukaṁ
dviṣanti mandāś caritaṁ mahātmanām ||
(Kumāra-sambhava: 5.75)

“Fools deride the character of great souls because it is extraordinary and its cause is incomprehensible [to them].”

Read on →

upadeśo hi mūrkhānāṁ

upadeśo hi mūrkhānāṁ prakopāya na śāntaye |
payaḥ-pānaṁ bhujangānāṁ kevalaṁ viṣa-vardhanam ||
(Pañcatantra: 1.420)

“Advice leads [only] to angering fools, not pacifying them. Drinking milk only increases the poison of snakes.”

Read on →

harṣa-sthāna-sahasrāṇi

harṣa-sthāna-sahasrāṇi bhaya-sthāna-śatāni ca |
divase divase mūḍham āviśanti na paṇḍitam ||
(Mahābhārata: Svargārohana Parva, 5.48)

“Thousands of occasions for joy, and hundreds of occasions for fear day by day affect the foolish but not the wise.”

Read on →

śāstrāṇy adhītyāpi bhavanti mūrkhā

śāstrāṇy adhītyāpi bhavanti mūrkhā
yas tu kriyāvān puruṣaḥ sa vidvān |
sucintitaṁ caiṣadham āturāṇāṁ
na nāma-mātreṇa karoty arogam ||
(Hitopadeśa: 1.164)

“Even after studying the śāstras, fools remain [fools], whereas a person who engages in practice [of the knowledge they have studied] becomes [truly] learned, just as a well-considered medicine for sick persons does not remove a disease with only its name [i.e., the medicine has to actually be taken properly, and so also knowledge has to actually be put into practice properly for it to be realized and one to attain the benefit such knowledge produces].”

Read on →

anāhūtaḥ praviśati

anāhūtaḥ praviśati apṛṣṭo bahu bhāṣate |
aviśvaste viśvasiti mūḍha-cetā narādhamaḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.33.36; Vidura-nīti: 38; Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)

“One who enters uninvited, speaks at length without being asked, and trusts the untrustworthy is a fool and the lowest of men.”

Read on →

apriyaṁ na hi bhāṣet

apriyaṁ na hi bhāṣet na virūdhyeta kenacit |
kārya-siddhiṁ samīheta kārya-bhraṁśo hi mūrkhatā ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 2189)

“Do not speak unpleasantly and do not act hostilely with anyone. [Rather, simply] Strive to accomplish your goal. Straying from the goal is foolishness.”

Read on →