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.”
hiṁsraḥ sva-pāpena vihiṁsitaḥ khalaḥ
sādhuḥ samatvena bhayād vimucyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.7.31)
“A hurtful, wicked person is hurt by his own sin. A sādhu is freed from danger by [his own] equability.”
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.”
atiśaucam aśaucaṁ vā atinindā atistutiḥ |
atyācāram anācāraṃ ṣaḍ-vidhaṁ mūrkha-lakṣaṇam ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“The six characteristics of a fool are (1) excessive cleanliness [i.e., obsessive concern regarding cleanliness], (2) uncleanliness, (3) excessive criticism, (4) excessive praise, (5) excessive propriety [i.e., pretension, affectation, theatricality, artificiality, etc.], and (6) impropriety.”
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].”
upadeśo hi mūrkhānāṁ prakopāya na śāntaye |
payaḥ-pānaṁ bhujangānāṁ kevalaṁ viṣa-vardhanam ||
(Pañcatantra: 1.420)
“Advice leads [only] to angering fools, not pacifying them. Drinking milk only increases the poison of snakes.”
harṣa-sthāna-sahasrāṇi bhaya-sthāna-śatāni ca |
divase divase mūḍham āviśanti na paṇḍitam ||
(Mahābhārata: Svargārohana Parva, 5.48)
“Thousands of occasions for joy, and hundreds of occasions for fear day by day affect the foolish but not the wise.”
śāstrāṇy adhītyāpi bhavanti mūrkhā
yas tu kriyāvān puruṣaḥ sa vidvān |
sucintitaṁ caiṣadham āturāṇāṁ
na nāma-mātreṇa karoty arogam ||
(Hitopadeśa: 1.164)
“Even after studying the śāstras, fools remain [fools], whereas a person who engages in practice [of the knowledge they have studied] becomes [truly] learned, just as a well-considered medicine for sick persons does not remove a disease with only its name [i.e., the medicine has to actually be taken properly, and so also knowledge has to actually be put into practice properly for it to be realized and one to attain the benefit such knowledge produces].”
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.”
apriyaṁ na hi bhāṣet na virūdhyeta kenacit |
kārya-siddhiṁ samīheta kārya-bhraṁśo hi mūrkhatā ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 2189)
“Do not speak unpleasantly and do not act hostilely with anyone. [Rather, simply] Strive to accomplish your goal. Straying from the goal is foolishness.”
