Kāvya-śāstras

api kriyārthaṁ sulabhaṁ samit-kuśaṁ

api kriyārthaṁ sulabhaṁ samit-kuśaṁ
jalāny api snāna-vidhi kṣamāṇi te |
api sva-śaktyā tapasi vartase
śarīram ādyaṁ khalu dharma-sādhanam ||
(Kumāra-sambhavam: 5.33; cited in Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 2016)

[Śiva in the form of a young boy asks Pārvatī the following questions as she is performing ongoing penance to attain Śiva as her husband:] “Are samit and kuśa for your rites easy for you to obtain? Do you have suitable water for your regular baths? Are you engaging in austerities according to your ability? The body, indeed, is the primary means of [following] dharma.”

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sa śuśruvān mātari bhārgaveṇa

sa śuśruvān mātari bhārgaveṇa
pitur niyogāt prahṛtaṁ dviṣadvat |
pratyagṛhīd agraja-śāsanaṁ tat
ājñā gurūṇāṁ hy avicāraṇīyā |
(Raghu-vaṁśa: 14.46; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.10.145)

“Hearing that at his father’s direction Paraśurāma struck his mother like an enemy, he [i.e., Lakṣmaṇa] accepted the command of his elder brother [i.e., Rāma], since the order of elders is not to be deliberated upon.”

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sahasā vidadhīta na kriyām

sahasā vidadhīta na kriyām
avivekaḥ param āpadāṁ padam |
vṛṇate hi vimṛśya-kāriṇaṁ
guṇa-lubdhāḥ svayam eva sampadaḥ ||
(Kirātārjunīyam: 2.30; cited in Sāhitya-darpaṇa: 643, Hitopadeśa: 4.104; the Vṛtti on Hari-nāmāmṛta-vyākaraṇa: 780; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-śeṣa: 90)

“One should not act rashly. Indiscrimination is a cause of severe misfortune. Desirous of [such] virtue, good fortune personally worships one who acts after having deliberated.”

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haraty aghaṁ samprati hetur eṣyataḥ

haraty aghaṁ samprati hetur eṣyataḥ
śubhasya pūrvācaritaiḥ kṛtaṁ śubhaiḥ |
śarīra-bhājāṁ bhavadīya-darśanaṁ
vyanakti kāla-tritaye’pi yogyatām ||
(Śiśupāla-vadha: 1.26)

[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa addresses Nārada Muni upon his arrival in Dvārakā:] “Sight of you demonstrates indeed the virtue of embodied beings in the three phases of time: it removes impurity in the present, it is the cause of good fortune in the future, and it is attained by good works performed in the past.”

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naratvaṁ durlabhaṁ loke vidyā tatra sudurlabhā

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.”

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na kaṭhoraṁ na vā tīkṣṇam

na kaṭhoraṁ na vā tīkṣṇam āyudhaṁ puṣpadhanvanaḥ |
tathāpi jitam evāsīd amunā bhuvanatrayam ||
(Kāvyādarśa: 2.324)

“The weapon of he of flower bow [i.e., Kāmadeva] is neither hard nor sharp, yet the three worlds have indeed been conquered with it.”

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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].”

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vrajanti te mūḍha-dhiyaḥ parābhavaṁ

vrajanti te mūḍha-dhiyaḥ parābhavaṁ
bhavanti māyāviṣu ye na māyinaḥ|
praviśya hi ghnanti śaṭhās tathāvidhān
asaṁvṛtāṅgān niśitā iveṣavaḥ ||
(Kirātārjunīyam: 1.30)

“Those of dull intellect who do not become deceitful with the deceitful [i.e., who fail to employ deceit in dealing with others employing deceit against them when no non-deceitful means of resolution is viable] are defeated. Cheaters enter among and destroy those of this sort [i.e., those who are honest but lack this practical insight] as sharp arrows enter into [i.e., pierce] and destroy unarmored bodies.”

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vikāra-hetau sati vikriyante

vikāra-hetau sati vikriyante
yeṣāṁ na cetāṁsi ta eva dhīrāḥ |
(Kumāra-sambhava: 1.59)

“Only they whose minds are not disturbed [even] in the presence of causes of disturbance are dhīra (sagacious).”

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