karmāyattaṁ phalaṁ puṁsāṁ buddhiḥ karmānusāriṇī |
tathāpi sudhiyā bhāvyaṁ suvicāryaiva kurvatā ||
(Nīti-śatakam: 89; Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 8947)
“Results are dependent on karma. A person’s intellect [also] follows karma. Still, the wise should act only after careful deliberation.”
ambhojinī-vana-vihāra-vilāsam eva
haṁsasya hanti nitarāṁ kupito vidhātā |
na tv asya dugdha-jala-bheda-vidhau prasiddhāṁ
vaidagdhī-kīrtim apahartum asau samarthaḥ ||
(Nīti-śatakam: 18)
“Vidhātā [i.e., Brahmā, or, destiny], [even] when exceedingly angered,
may destroy a swan’s fun
of playing in a cluster of lotuses,
but he cannot destroy
the widely renowned fame
of its skill in separating milk from water.”
santaptāyasi saṁsthitasya payaso nāmāpi na jñāyate
muktākāratayā tad eva nalinī-patra-sthitaṁ rājate |
svātyāṁ sāgara-śuktim adhyapatitaṁ san-mauktikaṁ jāyate
prāyeṇottama-madhyamādhama-daśā saṁsargato jāyate ||
(Nīti-śatakam of Bhartṛhari: 67)
“Water placed on a red-hot iron cannot even be recognized [i.e., it evaporates immediately without a trace and becomes invisible]. When situated on a lotus leaf, [however,] it shines with the appearance of a pearl. And when it falls onto an oyster shell during Svāti [i.e., the lunar mansion during which oysters open their shells], it becomes an actual pearl. Generally [speaking], excellent, moderate, and low conditions [of people] arise from association.”
