yathā hy ekena cakreṇa na rathasya gatir bhavet |
tathā puruṣakāreṇa vinā daivaṁ na siddhyati ||
(Hitopadeśa: Maṅgalācaraṇa, 30)
“As no movement shall occur of a chariot with only one wheel, so destiny does not accomplish anything without a person’s endeavor.”
udyamena hi sidhyanti kāryāṇi na manorathaiḥ |
na hi suptasya siṁhasya praviśanti mukhe mṛgāḥ ||
(Hitopadeśa: Maṅgalācaraṇa, 36; Pañcatantra: Mitra-samprāpti)
“Tasks are accomplished verily by industriousness, and not just by desires. Animals do not enter the mouth of a sleeping lion.”
kāka-tāIīyavat prāptaṁ dṛṣṭvāpi nidhim agrataḥ |
na svayaṁ daivam ādatte puruṣārtham apekṣate ||
(Hitopadeśa: Maṅgalācaraṇa, 35)
“Destiny itself does not grant [one possession of] a jewel even after it has been seen present in the fore like the palm and the crow [i.e., by chance]. A person’s effort is [also] required [for one to obtain it].”
gatānugatiko lokaḥ kuṭṭanīm upadeśinīm |
pramāṇayati no dharme yathā goghnam api dvijam ||
(Hitopadeśa: Mitra-lābha, 10)
“People, who are imitative [lit., ‘goers after that which has gone,’ i.e., just followers of what those before them have done], do not accept an advising procuress [i.e., a procuress who gives good advice] as a source of knowledge in regard to dharma as they do even a cow-killing twice-born [i.e., a highly sinful brāhmaṇa who severely transgresses the dharma or behaves in a way that clearly demonstrates he is ignorant of it].”
sarva-dravyeṣu vidyaiva dravyam āhur anuttamam |
ahāryatvād anarghatvād akṣayatvāc ca sarvadā ||
(Hitopadeśa: Maṅgalācaraṇa, 4)
“Among all objects, knowledge alone is said to be the superlative object because of [its] always being inexhaustible, invaluable, and non-stealable.”
ādeyasya pradeyasya kartavyasya ca karmaṇaḥ |
kṣipram akriyamāṇasya kālaḥ pibati tad-rasam ||
(Hitopadeśa: Sandhi, 101)
“That which is to be accepted, that which is to be given, and actions that are to be performed but which are not attended to quickly—time drinks away their essence.”
svabhāvo nopadeśena śakyate kartum anyathā |
sutaptam api pānīyaṁ punar gacchati śītalam ||
yadi syac chītalo vahniḥ śītāṁśur dahanātmakaḥ |
na svabhāvo’tra martyānāṁ śakyate kartum anyathā ||
(Hitopadeśa: Mitra-bheda, 280–281)
“The svabhāva cannot be changed by instructions. Although [it may be made] very hot [for a certain period of time], water again [inevitably] goes cold. [Even] If fire were to become cold, and the moon [lit. ‘that which has cool rays’] were to become fiery, [still] the svabhāvas of mortal beings in this world could not be changed.”
sarvasya hi parīkṣyante svabhāvā netare guṇāḥ |
atītya hi guṇān sarvān svabhāvo mūrdhni vartate ||
(Hitopadeśa: Mitra-lābha, 20)
“The natures (svabhāvas) of all are to be examined, and not, on the contrary, the qualities, since the nature (svabhāva) [of a person], surpassing all qualities, abides at the head [i.e., the svabhāva predominates in the thinking and behavior of person].”
vṛtty-arthaṁ bhojanaṁ yeṣāṁ santānārthaṁ ca maithunam |
vāk satya-vacanārthāya durgāṇy api taranti te ||
(Hitopadeśa: Sandhi, 92)
“Those who eat for the sake of upkeep, engage in intercourse for the sake of children, and speak for the sake of truthful speech certainly overcome adversities.”
aneka-saṁśayocchedi parokṣārthasya darśakam |
sarvasya locanaṁ śāstraṁ yasya nāsty andha eva saḥ ||
(Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāra, Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha, Hitopadeśa: 1.10)
“The remover of numerous doubts and revealer of the invisible, śāstra is the eye of everyone. One without it is certainly blind.”
