Tuesday, January 22, 2019

this way or that way?

Came across a book named Subhashita VirodhaabhaasaH..
in this work, very valuable sayings,in Sanskrit, very often quoted, but conveying contradicting viewpoints,
Such slokas are arranged almost in sets

i give below one such set..
Enough food for thought,,,
enough to confuse us as to which idea is the right one..

In fact, though contradictory, both ideas seem to hold fort in their own contexts..

सुखार्थिनः कुतो विद्या कुतो विद्यार्थिनः सुखम्।
सुखार्थी चेत्त्यजेत् विद्यां विद्यार्थी चेत् त्यजेत् सुखम्॥
sukhārthinaḥ kuto vidyā kuto vidyārthinaḥ sukham|
sukhārthī cettyajet vidyāṁ vidyārthī cet tyajet sukham||

Meaning---
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If one is hankering after comforts and comforts alone, he will not be able to attain much knowledge.. And for one who is always in pursuit of knowledge, physical or material comforts would be distant dreams..
If one is eager to have comforts alone, he may abandon the learning process altogether and if learning is his priority , he must forget the material comforts..

बुभुक्षितैर्व्याकरणं न भुज्यते पिपासितः काव्यरसो न पीयते।
न छन्दसा केनचिदुद्धृतं कुलं हिरण्यमेवार्ज्जय निष्फलाः गुणाः॥
bubhukṣitairvyākaraṇaṁ na bhujyate pipāsitaḥ kāvyaraso na pīyate|
na chandasā kenaciduddhṛtaṁ kulaṁ hiraṇyamevārjjaya niṣphalāḥ guṇāḥ||

Meaning...
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A person ( however learned he may be) cannot survive by eating grammar when he is hungry.. He cannot drink the metaphoric nectar of poesy and poetic sweeness when he is thirsty ( he would have to drink water or some other potable fluid alone ) . The clan of no Sholar has been uplifted to comfort through just reciting poetry in nice metres.. Therefore, earn Gold.. Learnedness and the virtues arising from them are of little utility when it comes to real needs.. so just earn gold, and earn gold alone..

comments
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What a funny set of contradictory ideas.!
.
The first is terse, factual and moralistic too
The second is just crassly materialistic.

The highbrows and showmen would praise the first as ideal, and would condemn the second in public..
But then their natural instinct would be to seek comforts rather than to sit tight, burn the midnight oil, and study.. ( Why study, you can cut and paste). And they will be amassing money in secret while waxing eloquent about morals..

And the dreamy, silly, moralists ? Do they really matter anyway?

The practical choice appears to be a sort of golden mean between the two extreme ideas..

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