Sanskrit subhASitAs

[PUNARVASU]

It was my desire to translate 'sanskrit subhASitas' into tamizh.Never got round to doing it. I am inspired by Ramakriya, a rasika.org member , to start it when he wrote saying that he has translated them into kannada and bringing out a book. In the meanwhile, in a thread on Bharatiyar, arasi is bringing out a beautiful translation of a book of Yadugiri . I find that many views expressed by the great poet have parallels in these subhASitas. As a first step, I plan to write about them here. The separate thread is started in order that the continuity of arasi's translations are not broken by my intermittent postings.

[PUNARVASU]

Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet » 10 Jul 2011 06:17
"Bharathi: BhalE! You have swallowed every word of what Iyer said in his speech! As for me, I don't mind losing an argument to a child. It's a matter of pride for a guru to lose an argument to his student. There are many instances of it in our history."

I am reminded of the following subhASita:

युक्तियुक्तं वचो ग्राह्यं बालादपि शुकादपि ।
युक्तिहीनं वचस्त्याज्यं वृद्धादपि शुकादपि ॥
Whatever is consistent with right objective reasoning should be accepted even if it comes from a boy or a parrot, and whatever is not, should be rejected even if it comes from an old man or the great sage Śrī Śuka himself.

[PUNARVASU]

Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet » 11 Jul 2011 13:34
"Lines like this are so motivational and awesome. : "The one who thinks of the past is a fool. As we wash and dry our clothes every day, we should get rid of our own ills and troubles that way too. Just as the Sun rises every morning, we should see everything anew and rejoice."
A parallel in subhASitas:
gate shoko na kartavyo bhavishhyaM naiva chintayeth |
vartamaanena kaalena vartayanti vichakShaNaaH |

Meaning

Do not dwell upon the past, and do not worry about the
future. All intelligent men/women live only according to the present
times and needs.

[cmlover]

Excellent Punarvasu!
The quotes are contextual and hence can be remembered easily. I suggest your posting the subhAShitas in devanagari scripts as well along with the roman transliterations. In case you know the reference citation post that also. Keep going...

[veeyens3]

Probably this concept is the basis of the famous Japanese Tea Ceremony which lays emphasis on savouring the present with total exclusion of past or future

[arasi]

Punarvasu,
Your father is right.
To be at your tea ceremony is a welcome change from mundane life. I don't have to just cherish my memory of the lovely tea ceremony I took part in once, but be here at The Tea House of the July Moon, 'August Moon', September Moon and so on here at Rasikas.Org