"
Walking on a sword" is often repeating expression in the
Bhartrihari's "
Niti shatakam". And the author correlates this dangerous exercise to our "usual" life. Unlike more religious
Vairagya Shakatam , this book is like the collection of wise quotes and it is interesting to meditate over each of them. For to walk skilfully on a sword.
1.
I bow to God, the self-enlightened, the peaceful, free from the bonds of space and time, the infinite, the pure consciousness personified and experienced by Self.
2.
A fool can be pleased easily, and it is even easier to please the wise. However, even Brahma (the creator) cannot satisfy a conceited person with a bit of knowledge.
3.
It may be possible to forcibly retrieve a gem from the fanged jaws of a crocodile; one may even swim across the sea full of turbulent waves, or place an angry serpent on one's head like a flower, but it is impossible to please a conceited fool.
5.
Wanting to reform the wicked with nectar-sweet advice, is like trying to control an elephant with the pith of a lotus-stem, or cutting a diamond with delicate petals of the Shireesh flower, or sweetening the salty ocean with a drop of honey.
6.
The creator has provided only one means for hiding one's ignorance which is always under his own control. It is to keep silent, particularly, in the company of the learned.
7.
When my knowledge was limited, I assumed that I was fully proficient. I was blinded by pride like an elephant in frenzy. However, when I started learning in the company of the erudite and realized my short comings, the conceit of mine disappeared like fever.
8.
A dog is not afraid even if Indra, the lord of Gods, is standing near, so long as it is devouring a donkey's bone which might be vermin-infested, loathsome, saliva-doused, stinking and flesh-less. Similarly, a wretch will never pay heed to the unworthiness of his acquisitions.
9.
The Ganges descended from the heavens upon the head of the Shiva, and thence, to the mountains. From the high mountains, she flowed down the plains to finally lapse into the sea. Thus, the Ganges kept drifting downwards from one level to another. Similarly, those who have lost their sagacity plunge downwards in a hundred ways.
10.
With water, a fire can be extinguished; an umbrella protects one from the heat of the sun; a frenzied elephant can be tamed by a mahout's sharp iron goad, and so can a cow and a donkey with a stick; diseases can be cured by an assortment of medicines, and the incantation of various mantras is an antidote to toxicants. The scriptures contain remedies for all, but there is none for a conceited fool.
19.
Knowledge is certainly a man's greatest beauty. It is a safe and hidden treasure. It provides prosperity, fame and happiness. Knowledge is the guru of all gurus. It acts as one's friend in a foreign country. Knowledge is the Supreme God. It is the knowledge, not wealth, which is adorned by kings. Without knowledge one remains an animal.
20.
Why should he need to wear an armour, if he himself is compassionate and forgiving? What more harm can his enemies do to him, if he is being consumed by his own anger? If his relatives pester him, then a fire is not needed to burn his wealth. Of what need is a medicine chest to him who has good friends by his side? On the other hand, falling in the company of the wicked is like falling in a snake-pit. What is the importance of material wealth for him who possesses immaculate knowledge? Is there any need for jewelery when a man treasures modesty in his heart? Will the rule of a kingdom hold any charm for a man who has the gift of the Muses?
26.
Base men do not undertake any work apprehending obstacles. Mediocres make a start, but cease working when they encounter hindrances. The men of excellence, however, after commencing a job do not give up despite recurrence of impediments.
27.
To be judicious and amicable, to desist from committing evil even in the face of death, to refrain from soliciting favours from the wicked, to avoid asking for help from a destitute friend, to remain steadfast in adversity and to follow in the footsteps of the great men, who taught these habits to good people which are as difficult as the vow of walking on a sword?
30.
A dog wags its tail and crawls at the feet of its master, and shows him its mouth and belly to get food. However, a mighty elephant looks as its patron with composure, and eats only after a lot of coaxing.
32.
Like a bunch of flowers, the great thinkers are ordained for only two kinds of existence. Either they are placed over the heads of the people or they perish in the forest.
33.
There are five or six revered planets in the sky like Jupiter, but the swash-buckler Rahu does not contend with them. Look O Brother! Rahu, the lord of demons, which is surviving merely on a truncated head, swallows only the Sun and the Moon watching the appropriate time (i.e. Amavasya and Poornima, the darkest night and the full‐moon night of the month respectively) and none else.
42.
There are only three ends of wealth – charity, enjoyment or destruction. One who neither gives, nor enjoys, leaves open only the third course for it.
44.
When a man is in penury, he pines for a handful of barley. After he becomes abundantly rich, he considers the entire world, no more than straw. There is no consistency in the greatness or smallness of material objects. It is the fluctuating fortune of wealthy men which overrates or underrates the material things.
54.
If one is possessed by cupidity, then he may have no other vices; if one is in the habit of backbiting, then there is no need for committing sins. Austerity is not required for him who is truthful. He need not go on pilgrimages who has a clear conscience. If one has a gentle disposition, then he need no other strength. One who possesses dignity, for him there is no use of any ornaments. If one has acquired good knowledge, riches are not necessary for him, and if one has begotten ill-repute, then death is not necessary for him.
56.
Those kings who suffer from excessive anger, alienate even their own kinsmen. The touch of fire burns even the performer of a fire sacrifice (havan).
58.
Can anyone ever be happy under the domination of that mean fellow who envies the virtuous, who under the fortuitous gain of prosperity has entirely forgotten his own previous deeds of depravity, one who is unrestrained, and who has raised the stock of the vile?
59.
Friendship with the wicked and the virtuous is like the shadow of the forenoon and the afternoon, respectively. The one is long in the beginning and then gradually shrinks. The other is short at the commencement but progressively lengthens with the passage of time.
60.
A deer, a fish and a gentleman subsist on grass, water and contentment, yet a hunter, a fisherman and a backbiter are hostile to them respectively without rhyme or reason.
62.
Patience in adversity, magnanimity in ascendancy, eloquence in assembly, bravery in battle, aspiration for eminence and engrossment in the Scriptures are the self-evident attributes of great men.
63.
To give secret charities, to extend hospitality to visitors, to keep silent after doing good to others and to extol publicly the favours received from others, to restrain from pride after acquiring wealth and to avoid contempt while speaking about others – who has taught this difficult practice of "walking on a sword" to good people?
64.
Giving of praise‐ worthy alms is an ornament for the hands, bowing at the feet of the guru is that for the head; the ornament of the mouth is truthful speech, that of the arms is invincible bravery; clean conscience is the ornament of one's heart and the attainment of knowledge is the ornament of the ears. These ornaments belong to men who are great by their own natural tendencies, though they may be without opulence.
65.
In opulence the heart of great men is as soft as that of a lotus flower, but in adversity the same hardens like a rock of a big mountain.
66.
Water when dropped on a hot iron, evaporates leaving no trace of itself. The drops of water that nestle on lotus‐leaves gleam like pearls. The same when they fall in the oyster shells of the ocean during the swaati, these generate pearls. Base, mediocre and superior attributes are generally cultivated by the different types of company one keeps.
67.
Indeed, a son is he who makes his father happy with his good deeds. The woman who is a well‐wisher of her husband is a wife in the real sense. A friend who remains alike in times of happiness and misery, is a true friend. Verily, men obtain these three only as a result of their good deeds.
78.
How many good persons are there in this world whose mind, body and speech are filled with the nectar of piety, who keep all the three worlds gratified by their benevolent acts, who magnify even the minute atoms of virtue in others to mountaineous proportions, and who are always cheerful at heart?
79.
The gods did not rest content with the jewels obtained by the churning of the ocean, nor were they stupefied and awed, with getting the deadly poison. They did not seek repose until they had acquired the nectar. Similarly, men of determination do not rest on their laurels until they achieve their objective.
80.
Discerning men may slight or laud them, the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, may come or go as she likes, death may occur today or after ages; but strong-willed men do not deviate from the path of justice.
82.
A tree grows again after pruning, and the moon also waxes after waning. Contemplating this, the righteous men do not grieve in suffering.
83.
Civility is the ornament of prosperity, restrained speech of valour, mental tranquility of knowledge, humility of studying the scriptures, charity to the deserving of wealth, control over anger of austerity, forgiveness of power, and sincerity of righteousness. Moral conduct is the root cause of all this – and it is the most precious ornament of all.
84.
Of what consequence are Sumeru, the mountain of gold or Kailash. The silvery mountain where the trees remain unchanged for ever. We consider the Malaya mountain (on the western ghats) as greater where even the thorny and bitter (like the neem) trees acquire the fragrance of sandal wood.
85.
Sometimes they sleep on the ground, sometimes on beds; some times they survive by eating herbs and vegetables, sometimes they get to eat delicious rice dishes, sometimes they barely cover themselves with rags and sometimes they wear beautiful silken cloths. Single-minded persons striving for their goals are unmindful of interim weal and woe.
86.
Just as a ball bounces back after hitting the ground, similarly, the suffering of righteous men is temporary.
87.
Indolence, indeed, is like the great enemy inside men's body; and there is no friend as good as diligence. An industrious man never suffers.
88.
A snake, stricken with hunger and despair, lay coiled in a basket. In the night a mouse gnawed a hole in the basket, and on its own fell into the mouth of the snake. The snake gratified its hunger with the flesh of the mouse, and quickly crept out of its captivity through the same hole. O men! Be patient, destiny is the main cause of one's rise and fall.
90.
The result of men's efforts depends upon fate. Intelligence is also determined by fate, yet wise men should think before acting.
95.
My salutation to gods, but they live under the control of the Creator, Brahma. I pray then to Brahma, but he rewards according to one's actions. If the results depend upon actions alone, then is there any purpose in propitiating the gods or the Creator? Thus, I salute the actions only which even Brahma cannot defy.
96.
I salute immutable causation, which made Brahma mould the universe like a potter; which compelled Vishnu to undergo the harrowing experience of ten intricate incarnations; constrained Shiva to beg for alms carrying a human skull in his hand; pushes the sun to traverse the sky eternally.
97.
A beautiful body bears no fruit, nor high family or good character, knowledge or diligent service. It is the accumulation of merit through a man's previous austerities which alone fructify even as the trees in due season.
98.
Whether one is in a battlefield or in a forest; whether one is in the midst of enemies, water or fire; in the sea or on a mountain peak; in slumber or in senselessness – in whatever difficult plight a man may be, it is his past meritorious deeds that really, protect him.
99.
The virtuous deeds which inspire the vile to behave like saints and groom nincompoops to be learned; turn the envious into well-wishers and the implicit into the tangible; and which instantly metamorphose venom into nectar – O gentleman, take the shelter of such virtuous deeds to enjoy the fruit you cherish, instead of depending upon other means entailing miseries.
104.
What is gain? It is the companionship of the virtuous. What is grief? It is the company of fools. What is loss? It is the dissipation of time. What is prudence? It is devotion to virtue. What is valour? It is the conquest of the senses. Who is the beloved wife? One who is devoted to her husband. What is wealth? It is knowledge. What is happiness? It is to remain settled in one's own country. What is rulership? It is to command obedience.
