useless and potentially hazardous activities

अनर्थकमनायुष्यं गोविषाणस्य भक्षनम्।

दन्ताश्च परिमृज्यन्ते रसश्चापि न लभ्यते॥

इन्दिश्चे स्प्रूचे ३४५३ महाभारते

anarthakamanāyuṣyaṁ goviṣāṇasya bhakṣanam|

dantāśca parimrujyante rasaścāpi na labhyate||

indiśce sprūce 3453 mahābhārate

People engage themselves in many useless and potentially hazardous activities. No positive results would emerge, but troubles can come without any invitation. This statement is a dig at such activities…

A typical case study is a person trying to gnaw at the horn of a cow or bull. If the cown is alive, it will react immediately and the man will find himself on the ground covered with dust and perhaps with injuries. Such quixotic activity would have neither enhanced his health, longevity nor would have added any money to his cashbox.

If a person is gnawing at the horn of a dead cow, still the situation is not different. He can find no taste by licking such a dry horn. The activity is completely useless, unprofitable, and in addition it can be prejudicial to his longevity because the taxic substances sticking to the horn might challenge his health, and the sharp edges can injure him and cause bleeding. The teeth that rub with the horn would get pulverized adding misery to the person who is trying to eat the dry horn. And in spite of all earnest attempts, a person is not going to receive any nutrition or going to derive pleasure to his tastebuds by grawing at a dry horn of an animal.

True, we may not gnaw at dry horns in the physical sense , but we are pursuing numerous similar activities and wasting our money, time and even the whole life on such pursuits.

A funny thought from Mahabharatham

K V Ananthanarayanan

 

गो विषाणस्य of cow’s horn भक्षणं gnawing at, trying to eat अनर्थकं useless, unprofitable , meaningless futile अनायुष्यं harmful to longevity च too भवति beome तेन by that action दन्ताःteeth परिमृज्यन्ते get rubbed and get unnecessarily loses enamel अपि च and न रसः no taste लभ्यते is obtained.