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.”
utsāho balavān ārya nāsty utsāhāt paraṁ balam |
sotsāhasya hi lokeṣu na kiñcid api durlabham ||
(Rāmāyaṇa: Kiṣikindhā-kāṇḍa, 4.1.121; cited in Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 6673)
[Lakṣmaṇa to Rāma while distraught after the abduction of Sītā:] “O noble one, enthusiasm is powerful. Nothing is more powerful than enthusiasm. Indeed, there is nothing unattainable in all the worlds for one who has enthusiasm.”
abhīpsāṁ svātmano rakṣāvirataṁ susthiraṁ tathā |
yatnam ātiṣṭha dhairyeṇa tataḥ siddhir bhaved dhruvam ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 2353)
“Remain firmly fixed in your own aspiration, continuous [self-] protection, complete steadiness, and endeavor. Then success is certain.”
apriyāṇy api pathyāni ye vadanti nṛṇām iha |
te eva suhṛdaḥ proktā anye syur nāma-dhārakāḥ ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 2199)
“Only those who say to people here that which, although unpleasant, needs to be said are called friends. Others are only bearers of the name [i.e., they are only so-called friends].”
āpat-kāle tu samprāpte yan-mitraṁ mitram eva tat |
vṛddhi-kāle tu samprāpte durjano’pi suhṛd bhavet ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“One who is a friend during times of adversity is a friend indeed. Even wicked people become friendly during times of prosperity.”
ahitāt pratiṣedhaś ca hite cānupravartanam |
vyasane cāparityāgaḥ trividhaṁ mitra-lakṣaṇam ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 4100; Buddha-carita: 4.64)
“The characteristics of a friend are threefold: (1) to restrain one from what is harmful, (2) to encourage one in what is beneficial, and (3) to not desert one in adversity.”
apriyam uktāḥ purūṣāḥ prayatante dvi-guṇam apriyaṁ vaktum |
tasmād avācyam apriyam apriyam aśrotu-kāmena ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 2192)
“People to whom something unpleasant is spoken [typically] try hard to speak something twice as unpleasant [in response]. Therefore, the unpleasant should not be spoken by one who does not wish to hear the unpleasant.”
anna-dānaṁ mahādānaṁ vidyā-dānaṁ mahattaram |
annena kṣaṇikā tṛptir yāvaj jīvaṁ tu vidyayā ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 1713)
“Giving food is a great gift, but giving education is even greater. With food, satisfaction is momentary, whereas with education, it is lifelong.”
anavyaye vyayaṁ yāti vyaye yāti suvistṛtim |
apūrvas tava kośo’yaṁ vidyā-kośeṣu bhārati ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“When it is not spent [i.e., shared], it becomes spent [i.e., lost], and when it is spent [i.e., shared], it becomes greatly enlarged. Among treasuries of learning, this treasury of yours is extraordinary, O Bhāratī (Sarasvatī)!”
api mānuṣyakaṁ labdhvā bhavanti jñānino na ye |
paśutaiva varā teṣāṁ pratyavāyāpravartanāt ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 2052)
“For those who even after attaining human birth do not become educated, being [born as] an animal would have been better as they would [in that case] not engage in degrading behavior.”
