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.”
na manuṣye guṇaḥ kaścid anyo dhanavatām api Read on →
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.”
vanaspater apakvāni phalāni pracinoti yaḥ Read on →
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.”
divasenaiva tat kuryāt yena rātrau sukhaṁ vaset Read on →
anirvedaḥ śriyo mūlyaṁ duḥkha-nāśe sukhasya ca |
mahān bhavaty anirviṇṇaḥ sukhaṁ cātyantam aśnute ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.39.45; Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“Perseverance [lit., non-despondence] is the root of fortune, elimination of suffering, and happiness. One who is perseverant [alt., non-despondent] is great and enjoys the greatest happiness.”
anirvedaḥ śriyo mūlyaṁ duḥkha-nāśe sukhasya ca Read on →
anāhūtaḥ praviśati apṛṣṭo bahu bhāṣate |
aviśvaste viśvasiti mūḍha-cetā narādhamaḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.33.36; Vidura-nīti: 38; Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“One who enters uninvited, speaks at length without being asked, and trusts the untrustworthy is a fool and the lowest of men.”
anubandhaṁ ca saṁprekṣya vipākāṁś caiva karmaṇām |
utthānam ātmanaś caiva dhīraḥ kurvīta vā na vā ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.34.9; Vidura-nīti; Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“A wise person should act, or not [act], only after carefully considering the cause and effects [i.e., benefits and harm] of actions, as well as one’s own capacity [i.e., to perform the action].”
anubandhaṁ ca saṁprekṣya Read on →
anubandhān avekṣeta sānubandheṣu karmasu |
sampradhārya ca kurvīta na vegena samācaret ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.34.8; Vidura-nīti)
“One should act [only] after examining and deliberating upon the causes and effects of actions. One should not act out of impulse.”
anartham arthataḥ paśyann arthaṁ caivāpy anarthataḥ |
indriyaiḥ prasṛto bālaḥ suduḥkhaṁ manyate sukham ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.34.59; Vidura-nīti: 213; cited in Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“Seeing anartha within artha and artha within anartha [i.e., seeing nonsense within sense and even sense within nonsense, misfortune within fortune and even fortune within misfortune, evil within good and even good within evil, etc.], the fool, pulled by the senses, considers great suffering to be happiness.”
anartham arthataḥ paśyann Read on →
