khalo mṛgayate doṣaṁ guṇa-pūrṇeṣu vastuṣu |
vane puṣpa-phalākīrṇe purīṣam iva sūkaraḥ ||
(Unknown Source)
“The wicked search for faults within objects full of qualities just as a pig searches for stool within a forest full of fruits and flowers.”
ācāryāt pādam ādatte pādaṁ śiṣyaḥ svamedhayā |
kālena pādam ādatte pādaṁ sabrahmacāribhiḥ ||
(Cited in a commentary to Mahābhārata: Udyoga-parva, 44.16)
“A student acquires one-fourth from the ācārya, one-fourth by by his own intellect, one-fourth in time, and one-fourth from fellow students.”
aṅgaṇa-vedi vasudhā kulyā jaladhiḥ sthalī ca pātālam |
vālimīkaḥ ca sumeruḥ kṛta-pratijñasya dhīrasya ||
(Unknown Source)
“For the dedicated and wise, the earth is a courtyard altar, reservoirs are canals, the netherworld is a clearing, and Mount Sumeru is an anthill.”
stheyaṁ ca jīva-hiṁsā ca para-strī-gamanaṁ tathā |
kalanja-bhojanaṁ caiva kāyikaṁ malam eva hi ||
(Unknown Source)
“Stealing, violence towards living beings, approaching another’s wife, and eating flesh—these are impurities of the body.”
kākaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ pikaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ ko bhedaḥ pika-kākayoḥ |
vasanta-samaye prāpte kākaḥ kākaḥ pikaḥ pikaḥ ||
(Unknown source)
“A crow is black, and a cuckoo is black. What is the difference between a crow and a cuckoo? When spring time arrives, a crow is a crow, a cuckoo is a cuckoo.”
apasaraṇam eva śaraṇaṁ maunaṁ vā tatra rajahaṁsasya |
kaṭu raṭati nikata-vartī vācālaṣ ṭiṭṭibho yatra |
(Unknown source)
“A royal swan simply retreats or takes recourse to silence there where a nearby talkative ṭiṭṭibha (lapwing, Vanellus indicus) bitterly bawls.”
kas tvaṁ lohita-locanāsy acaraṇaḥ haṁsaḥ kuto mānasāt
kiṁ tatrāsti suvarṇa-paṅkaja-vanāny aṁbhaḥ sudhā-sannibham |
ratnānāṁ nicayāḥ pravāla-maṇayo vaidūrya-rohāḥ kvacit
śambūkā api santi neti ca bakair ākarṇya hīhīkṛtam ||
(Unknown Source)
“[Cranes inquire:] ‘Who are you, O red-eyed one? You are legless.’
‘I am a swan [whose legs are invisible while floating on water].’
‘From where?’
‘From Mānasa [Sarovara].’
‘What is there?’
‘Clusters of golden lotuses, water like nectar, stores of gems, coral ingots, and lodes of cat’s-eye.’
‘Are there also snails there?’
‘No.’
Hearing this, the cranes laughed [at the swan].”
haṁsās sarvāṅga-śucayaḥ padmebhyo bahir āsate |
antarviśānti madhupāḥ śrīmatāṁ gatir īdṛśī ||
(Unknown source)
“Swans, who are white all over their body, remain outside lotus flowers. Bees [lit. “nectar-drinkers”] enter within [them]. The way of the exalted is such.”
haṁsaḥ śveto bakaḥ śvetaḥ ko bhedo baka-haṁsayoḥ |
nīra-kṣīra-viveke tu haṁso haṁso bako bakaḥ ||
(Unknown source)
“A swan is white; a stork is white.
What is the difference between a swan and a stork?
In discriminating between water and milk,
A swan is a swan, and a stork is a stork
[i.e., one can do so and the other cannot].”
yāra yemana bhāva tāra temana lābha |
(Bengali saying)
“As is one’s bhāva, so is one’s attainment.”
