paṭhakāḥ pāṭhakāś caiva ye cānye śāstra-cintakāḥ |
sarve vyasanino mūrkhā yaḥ kriyāvān sa paṇḍitaḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: 3.313.110)
“All the students, teachers, and others who consider śāstra but are addicted to vices are fools. One who engages in practice [of all that is taught in śāstra] is wise.”
riktaḥ sarvo bhavati hi laghuḥ pūrṇatā gauravāya |
(Megha-dūta: 1.20)
“All that is empty [i.e., devoid of substance] becomes light [i.e., trifling, neglected, etc.]. Fullness [i.e., quality and abundance] leads to weightiness [i.e., importance, respect, desirability, etc.].”
yasya naisargikī śobhā tan na saṁskāram arhati |
kaḥ kalām śaśino mārṣṭi kaustubhaḥ kena rajyate ||
(Unknown source)
“That which possesses inherent beauty does not require embellishment [to make it appealing]. Who sweeps the digits of the moon? By whom is the Kaustubha reddened?”
na ratnam anviṣyati mṛgyate hi tat |
(Kumāra-sambhava: 5.45)
“A jewel does not seek. It is rather sought.”
ātmā nadī saṁyama-puṇya-tīrthā
satyodakā śīla-taṭā dayormiḥ |
tatrābhiṣekaṁ kuru pāṇḍu-putra
na vāriṇā śuṣyati cāntarātmā ||
(Hitopadeśa: Sandhi, 93)
“The self is a river: discipline is its auspicious bathing places, truth its water, character its banks, and compassion its waves. Bath there, O son of Pāṇḍu. The inner self is not purified by water.”
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?”
sajjanā eva sādhūnāṁ prathayanti guṇotkaram |
puṣpāṇāṁ saurabhaṁ prāyas tanvate dikṣu mārutaḥ ||
(Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍārāgāra)
“Only sādhus proclaim the qualities of [other] sādhus [i.e., the impious, on the contrary, typically engage in discussion of sādhus’ supposed faults instead]. Mostly [it is] the winds [that] spread the fragrance of flowers throughout the directions.”
guṇāḥ kurvanti dūtatvaṁ dūre’pi vasatāṁ satām |
ketakī-gandham āghrāya svayaṁ gacchanti ṣaṭpadāḥ ||
(Subhāṣita-ratnākara)
“The qualities even of sādhus residing afar act as messengers. Bees go on their own to smell the fragrance of ketakī flowers.”
jyeṣṭhatvaṁ janmanā naiva guṇair jyeṣṭhatvam ucyate |
guṇāt gurutvam āyāti dugdhaṁ dadhi ghṛtaṁ kramāt ||
(Unknown Source)
“Seniority [alt., superiority, excellence] is not because of birth. Seniority is recognized because of qualities. Greatness comes from qualities, just as milk, yoghurt, and ghee come in order.”
hari-bhaktiḥ kevalato vedānta-grantha-vācanābhyāsāt
na bhaved yat pañcāṅge kadā kadā kutra vṛṣṭir iti |
tat koṣṭakaṁ sulikhitaṁ teṣāṁ puñjān na caika jala-binduḥ
tadvad bhakti-prāptau tad-ukta-guṇa-bhāk svayaṁ bhūyāt ||
(Sūkti-muktāvalī)
“Hari-bhakti does not manifest just by studying statements in texts on Vedānta, just as not even a drop of water falls from the multitudes of cells in a finely composed pañcāṅga [i.e., almanac] which state when and where there will be rain. To attain bhakti, one must become personally endowed with the stated qualities thereof [i.e., attaining bhakti is not a matter of simply reading and accumulating knowledge of it but rather requires [in additon to acquring proper knowledge of it] that one’s heart, mind, and conduct all become completely pervaded by it and all that is contrary to it be purged therewith].”
