dūrasthe’pi na dūrastho yo yasya manasi sthitaḥ |
yo yasya hṛdaye nāsti samīpasthō’pi dūrataḥ ||
(Cāṇakya-nīti-sāra)
“Even if situated far away, one who is present in one’s heart is not situated far away. One who is not present in one’s heart is far away [however] even if situated nearby.”
na manuṣye guṇaḥ kaścid anyo dhanavatām api |
anāturatvād bhadraṁ te mṛta-kalpā hi rogiṇaḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.36.65; Vidura-nīti)
“There is no other quality in a human being, including even affluence, that is more blessed than being healthy [lit., non-diseased]. The sickly are as though already dead.”
vanaspater apakvāni phalāni pracinoti yaḥ |
sa nāpnoti rasaṁ tebhyo bījaṁ cāsya vinaśyati ||
(Vidura-nīti; Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāra)
“One who picks the unripened fruits of a tree does not get any juice (rasa) from them, and its [i.e., the tree’s] seed is also destroyed.”
aprārthitāni duḥkhāni yathaivāyānti dehinām |
sukhāny api tathā manye daivam atrātiricyate ||
(Tantrākhyāyika: 121; cited in ṭīkās to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.5.18)
“As unrequested sufferings certainly come to the embodied, so too do pleasures. I consider that destiny prevails in this regard.”
sukham āpatitaṁ sevyaṁ duḥkham āpatitaṁ tathā |
cakravat parivartante duḥkhāni ca sukhāni ca ||
>(Hitopadeśa: Mitra-lābha, 166)
“Befallen joy is to be experienced as is befallen sorrow. Sorrows and joys rotate like a wheel.”
divasenaiva tat kuryāt yena rātrau sukhaṁ vaset |
yāvaj jīvaṁ ca tat kuryāt yena pretya sukhaṁ vaset ||
(Vidura-nītī: 136, 137)
“Do that during the day whereby you can pass the night in happiness, and do that throughout life whereby you can live in happiness hereafter.”
janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-vedanābhir upadrutam |
saṁsāram imam utpannam asāraṁ tyajataḥ sukham ||
(Hitopadeśa: Sandhi, 94)
“Happiness comes from giving up this insubstantial world of saṁsāra which is overrun by birth, death, old age, disease, and sorrow.”
kāmaḥ krodhas tathā lobho harṣo māno madas tathā |
ṣaḍ-vargam utsṛjed enaṁ tasmiṁs tyakte sukhī nṛpaḥ ||
(Hitopadeśa: Sandhi, 102)
“Give up the six enemies: lust, anger, greed, pleasure, egotism, and pride. O King, one who rejects them is happy in this world.”
ekākṣara-pradātāraṁ yo guruṁ nābhivandate |
śvāna-yoni-śataṁ gatvā cāṇḍāleṣv abhijāyate ||
(Cāṇakya-nīti-darpaṇa: 13.20)
“One who does not respect a guru who has taught [even] a single syllable will undergo one hundred births as a dog and then be born among cāṇḍālas.”
tyajed ekaṁ kulasyārthe grāmasyārthe kulaṁ tyajet |
grāmaṁ janapadasyārthe svātmārthe pṛthivīṁ tyajet ||
(Cāṇakya-nīti-darpaṇa: 3.10; Hitopadeśa: 1.143; Pañcatantra: 1.386)
“Give up an individual for the sake of a family. Give up a family for the sake of a village and a village for the sake of a nation. Give up [however] the earth for the sake of one’s self.”
