ko’tibhāraḥ samarthānāṁ kiṁ dūraṁ vyavasāyinam |
ko videśaḥ savidyānāṁ kaḥ paraḥ priyavādinām ||
(Pañcatantra)
“What is too heavy for the capable? What is far for the assiduous? What is a foreign land for the learned? Who is a stranger for those who speak kindly?”
vibhūtiḥ tyāga-hīna iva satya-hīna iva bhārati |
vidyā praśama-hīna iva na bhāti strī patiṁ vinā ||
(Rāmāyaṇa Mañjarī: Ayodhyā)
“Like wealth without giving, speech without truth, and learning without tranquility, a lady does not shine without her husband.”
dīnere adhika dayā kare bhagavān |
kulīna, paṇḍita, dhanīra baḍa abhimāna ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.4.68)
”Bhagavān bestows greater grace upon the humble. The noble, learned, and wealthy have great pride.”
naratvaṁ durlabhaṁ loke vidyā tatra sudurlabhā |
kavitvaṁ durlabhaṁ tatra śaktis tatra sudurlabhā||
(Agni Purāṇa; cited in Sāhitya-darpaṇa: 1.2)
“In this world, human life is rare, and therein [i.e., among human beings] education is very rare. Therein [i.e., among the educated], being poetic is rare, and therein [i.e., among the poetic], prowess [in poetics] is very rare.”
naratvaṁ durlabhaṁ loke vidyā tatra sudurlabhā |
śīlaṁ ca durlabhā tatra vinayas tatra sudurlabhaḥ||
(Agni Purāṇa)
“In this world, human life is rare, and therein [i.e., among human beings] education is very rare. Therein [i.e., among the educated], character is rare, and therein [i.e., among persons of good character], humility is very rare.”
anavyaye vyayaṁ yāti vyaye yāti suvistṛtim |
apūrvas tava kośo’yaṁ vidyā-kośeṣu bhārati ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“When it is not spent [i.e., shared], it becomes spent [i.e., lost], and when it is spent [i.e., shared], it becomes greatly enlarged. Among treasuries of learning, this treasury of yours is extraordinary, O Bhāratī (Sarasvatī)!”
apūrvaḥ ko’pi kośo’yaṁ vidyate tava bhārati |
vyayato vṛddhimāyāti kṣayamāyāti sañcayāt ||
(Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāra)
“How extraordinary is this treasury of yours, O Bhāratī (Sarasvatī)! By spending [i.e., distributing it], it increases, and by stocking [i.e., keeping it to yourself], it depletes!”
api mānuṣyakaṁ labdhvā bhavanti jñānino na ye |
paśutaiva varā teṣāṁ pratyavāyāpravartanāt ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 2052)
“For those who even after attaining human birth do not become educated, being [born as] an animal would have been better as they would [in that case] not engage in degrading behavior.”
asantuṣṭasya viprasya tejo vidyā tapo yaśaḥ |
sravantīndriya-laulyena jñānaṁ caivāvakīryate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.15.19)
“On account of greed related to the senses, an unsatisfied brāhmaṇa’s potency, learning, austerity, and fame dwindle, and his awareness [i.e., discernment] too is certainly cast away.”
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.”
