anugantuṁ satāṁ vartma kṛtsnaṁ yadi na śakyate |
svalpam apy anugantavyaṁ mārgastho nāvasīdati ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha; Sāra-samuccaya)
“If one is not able to follow the path of the sādhus completely, then it should be followed at least a little. One [who remains] situated on the path will not come to ruin [whereas those who give up will never be successful].”
yatra vidvaj-jano nāsti ślāghyas tatrālpa-dhīr api |
nirasta-pādape deśe eraṇḍo’pi drumāyate ||
(Hitopadeśa: Mitra-lābha, 70; Subhāṣita-ratna-samuccaya)
“Where there is no wise person, even someone of little intelligence becomes venerable. In a land devoid of trees, even a castor-oil plant seems like [i.e., is considered to be] a tree.”
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].”
ekā bhūr ubhayor aikyam ubhayor dala-kāṇḍayoḥ |
śāliśyāmākayor bhedaḥ phalena paricīyate ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha; Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāra)
“Both have the same soil, and both have identical shoots and stalks. The difference between rice and millet is known by the result.”
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.”
abhyāsānusarī vidyā buddhiḥ karmānusāriṇī |
udyogānusarī lakṣmīḥ phalaṁ bhāgyānusāri ca ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 2391)
“Knowledge follows study [alt., practice]. Intellect follows karma. Fortune follows effort, and results follow destiny.”
analaḥ śīta-nāśāya viṣa-nāśāya gāruḍam |
viveko duḥkha-nāśāya sarva-nāśāya durmatiḥ ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“Fire destroys cold, gāruḍa [i.e., a charm applied in the case of snake bites] destroys poison, discrimination destroys sorrow, and foolishness [alt., ignorance, delusion, misunderstanding, conceit, depression, enmity, etc.] destroy everything.”
anarthi-tarpaṇaṁ vittaṁ cittam adhyāna-darpaṇam |
atīrtha-sarpaṇaṁ dehaṁ paryante śocyatāṁ vrajet ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“Wealth that does not satisfy the needy, a mind that is not a mirror for meditation, and a body that does not go to the tīrthas shall become lamentable in the end.”
divā paśyati nolūkaḥ kāko naktaṁ na paśyati |
apūrvaḥ ko’pi kāmāndhaḥ divā naktaṁ na paśyati ||
(Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāra)
“An owl cannot see during the day, and a crow cannot see during the night, but indeed how peculiar is it that one who is blinded by kāma cannot see during the day or the night.”
advaitaṁ sukha-duḥkhayor anuguṇaṁ sarvāsvavasthāsu yad
viśrāmo hṛdayasya yatra jarasā yasminn ahāryo rasaḥ |
kālenāvaraṇātyayāt pariṇate yat sneha-sāre sthitaṁ
bhadraṁ tasya sumānuṣasya katham apy ekaṁ hi tat prāpyate ||
(Uttara-Rāma-carita: 1.39; Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 1020)
[Rāma muses about Sītā’s love for him as she sleeps in his lap:] “That which is uniform in happiness and distress, which is congenial in all circumstances, wherein there is repose for the heart, within which rasa cannot be drawn away by old age, and which through time, with the removal of reserve, abides in the fully distilled essence of affection—the special blessedness of that [love] is somehow attained only by the most fortunate human being.”
