na satyaṁ kevalaṁ satyam anṛtaṁ na tathānṛtam |
hitaṁ yat sarva-lokasya tat satyaṁ śeṣam anyathā ||
(Bhārata Mañjarī)
“Truth is not just truth, and falsity is not just falsity. That which is beneficial to all beings is truth, and the remainder [i.e., all else] is otherwise [i.e., falsity].”
na puṇyaṁ satya-mātrena satyān nāśo’sti kevalāt |
(Bṛhat-kathā-mañjarī)
“There is no virtue in truth alone; from bare truth ruin ensues.”
akrodhena jayet krodham asādhuṁ sādhunā jayet |
jayet kadaryam dānena jayet satyena cānṛtam ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.39.58)
“Conquer anger [i.e., the anger of others] with the absence of anger. Conquer dishonesty with honesty. Conquer miserliness with charity. Conquer falsity with truthfulness.”
ādeyasya pradeyasya kartavyasya ca karmaṇaḥ |
kṣipram akriyamāṇasya kālaḥ pibati tad-rasam ||
(Hitopadeśa: Sandhi, 101)
“That which is to be accepted, that which is to be given, and actions that are to be performed but which are not attended to quickly—time drinks away their essence.”
apsu plavante pāṣāṇā mānuṣā ghnanti rākṣasān |
kapayaḥ karma kurvanti kālasya kuṭilā gatiḥ ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
[Rāvaṇa:] “[In time] Stones float on water, men destroy fiends (rākṣasas), and monkeys perform duties. The course of time is crooked [i.e., no one can predict what will happen].”
āyuṣaḥ kṣaṇa eko’pi sarva-ratnair na labhyate |
nīyate tad vṛthā yena pramādaḥ sumahān aho ||
(Unknown Source)
“Even one moment of life cannot be regained with all the riches [in the world]. Aho! That by which it is spent in vain is a very big mistake!”
sarvasya hi parīkṣyante svabhāvā netare guṇāḥ |
atītya hi guṇān sarvān svabhāvo mūrdhni vartate ||
(Hitopadeśa: Mitra-lābha, 20)
“The natures (svabhāvas) of all are to be examined, and not, on the contrary, the qualities, since the nature (svabhāva) [of a person], surpassing all qualities, abides at the head [i.e., the svabhāva predominates in the thinking and behavior of person].”
vṛtty-arthaṁ bhojanaṁ yeṣāṁ santānārthaṁ ca maithunam |
vāk satya-vacanārthāya durgāṇy api taranti te ||
(Hitopadeśa: Sandhi, 92)
“Those who eat for the sake of upkeep, engage in intercourse for the sake of children, and speak for the sake of truthful speech certainly overcome adversities.”
alir bāṇo jyotiṣakaḥ stabdhībhūtaḥ kimekakaḥ |
preṣita-preṣakaś caiva ṣaḍ ete sevakādhamāḥ ||
(Unknown source)
“One who is like a bee, one who is like an arrow, one who is astrological, one who is stiff, one who thinks ‘how [can I do things] alone?’, and one who is a dispatcher of the dispatched—these six are the worst servitors.”
yādṛśaiḥ sevyate bhṛtyair yādṛśāṁś copasevate |
kadācin nātra sandehas tādṛg bhavati pūruṣaḥ ||
(Pañcatantra: 1.272)
“A person becomes like whom he serves and like servants by whom he is served. There is never any doubt in this regard.”
