musings 222

Sometimes people get obsessed more about the person who holds an idea than the merits of the idea per se.

When I quoted some maxim from old Sanskrit literature I was bombarded with queries about the source.

Even the book from which I quoted it is only a collection or compendium of many wise sayings that have floated in the oriental firmament for millenniums and any author was free to grab them and use them in his works..

Even greats like Kalidasa have often adopted or adopted such ideas in their works.

But many people are so fussy that they would accept a saying as valid only if the exact source and authorship are noted.

I am not great or erudite enough to create any maxim or proverb in any language. I can only quote them and present them in the way I would love..

My idea about that

"Just as in any other language and literature, in Sanskrit too there are many sayings and maxims floating across centuries.. and they may get quoted in the works of many authors of different times. One researcher would discover the quote in a particular manuscript and would assert that it was created by the author he discovered. Another might find it in another collection and try to to contradict the findings of the earlier one. We have to go by the value and meaning of the proverb or maxim and not by the author.. Sure, I cannot create such a maxim myself.. So I have to take it from some source. All I have done is to present the idea in my own way.

I am more interest in the noble ideas and I am always in search of maxims which would be in sync with what I consider good in life.. I am more keen about what is said than who said it.

For example this maxim is equally valid if it is stated in Sanskrit or Malayalam or Kannada and whether it is present by Kalidasa or Kuppusamy.."