the time of the wise and the foolish - काव्यशास्त्रविनोदेन

the time of the wise passes by entertainment with arts and sciences.
that of the foolish goes by troubles, sleep or quarrel.

kAvya-shAstra-vinodena kAlo gachchhati dhiimatAm |
vyasanena cha muurkhANam nidrayA kalahena vA ||

काव्यशास्त्रविनोदेन कालो गच्छति धीमताम् ।
व्यसनेन  च  मूर्खाणां  निद्रया  कलहेन  वा ।।

moving forward with the story of hitopadeshaH, the king sudarshan was pondering upon the role of parents in the child's education and welfare and growth.

thinking about the importance of education and worldly wisdom in the future kings, his sons, the worried king called a meeting of the wise. there he said -
'o great wise men, listen. is there any wise man here, who by teaching neeti-shAstra (polity, people management, worldly wisdom, administration), can give rebirth to by sons; my sons who are always on the wrong path, and have not studied properly? because, even glass gets the shining colors of precious stones by being with them, and the ignorant learns in the company of learned. in the company of lower minds, the thinking goes low, with similar minded it remains level and with the wise it become better!'

then a very famous, wise old man named viShNu sharmA who was an expert authority in neeti-shAstra, said, 'your sons are of a good lineage, and investing effort and time in them will not be fruitless. for investing in the unworthy is fruitless, like no amount of effort can make a crane talk like a parrot. in this family of yours, i don't see any worthless person. in six months, i shall make your sons experts inneeti-shAstra (polity, people management, worldly wisdom, administration).'
[in panchtantra, he even throws a challenge that if can't do so he be beheaded or his name be changed. he even declines the payment of hundred villages for his teachings, saying that he doesn't sell knowledge, but will do it for the good of the kingdom. ]

then he took them to the top of the palace and after sitting comfortably, he said to the princes - listen.

the time of the wise passes by entertainment with arts and sciences.
that of the foolish goes by troubles, sleep or quarrel.

let me tell you the interesting story of the crow, turtle etc. for your entertainment.'
and the princes said - sir, please do tell.


the princes had been wasting their time and brains with useless idling and going on wrong paths. who can stop them, but themselves. youth, fame, power and thoughtlessness - each is enough for disaster, and they had all four!

but time is money, time is life, and once gone time never comes back. in the very long run, time is cyclic, but not in our perceptible range. the foolish waste their time by bad habits or lack of wisdom that gets them in trouble. or laziness or petty quarrels eat up their time. the foolish waste their time, and those who waste their time become or remain foolish. it is a bad vicious cycle.

think about it, how often have you tried to save your time by avoiding useless arguments, ego bruises, show offing or gossiping, or simply lazying around beyond the refreshing limits? you are being 'tAmasika' - inert, not alive. and how many times have you got in trouble because of not doing the small, little right things, that you most probably knew but took the easy way out!

entertainment through arts and sciences! it is not boring, it is entertainment! it is not work, it is fun, your own nature to know. e.g. some people watch 'jerry springer show' on TV, some check out TED.com online.
one who is wise loves to enrich more through knowing and experiencing new things. and one who does this will become wise. it is a good vicious cycle. don't look at learning as a burden or boredom, for all of life is learning. take on it as a good habit.

reading is so much stressed by every government, literacy rate! but after learning how to read, we need to know what to read as well. of course, there will be all grades of literature available as there are readers! from playboys to playwrights! from philo-'sophie' to philosophy!

here, the words used are kAvya and shAstra. most translations do injustice to them as 'poetry' and 'scripture'. kavi is not just poet, a wordsmith, but a seer, a visionary, who sees all and says all. kAvya is the output of a kavi. in a stricter sense kAvya is of literature and kalA is of arts. but, all artists are kavi, in that they see beyond the obvious, and create visions through their art, be it dance, painting, music, design, sculpting etc.

shAstra is surely science, a field of study, and not just 'scriptures' which has a heavy 'religious' connotation. so a wise person is not one who just reads the religious texts, for life on this earth is more than just that. both are important. so any field of study, formally done is called a shAstra, akin to -logy.

do some study everyday, grow old while learning. you really are never too old o learn nothing.



like it? then become a fan of the blog.

how can this site be made more interesting, useful? share your comments, use the comment link or the comment box below

---

and now the language aspects of the shloka -

kAvya-shAstra-vinodena = काव्यशास्त्रविनोदेन = by entertainment with arts and sciences
kAvya = poetry (arts)
shAstra = sciences
vinoda = entertainment
vinodena = by entertainment

kAlo = कालो = time
kAlaH = time (-aH becomes -o due to sandhi rules)

gachchhati = गच्छति = goes

dhiimatAm = धीमताम् = of the wise

vyasanena = व्यसनेन = by troubles
vyasana = troubles, difficult times, bad habits (that give troubles)

cha = च = and

muurkhANam = मूर्खाणां = of the foolish
muurkhaH = foolish

nidrayA = निद्रया = by sleep
nidrA = sleep

kalahena = कलहेन = by quarrel
kalah = quarrel

vA = वा = or

like it? then become a fan of the blog. please rate the post as well.
simple translation help? tattoos?
how can this site be made more interesting, useful? share your comments, use the comment link or the comment box below

(c) shashikant joshi । शशिकांत जोशी । ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः ।
Practical Sanskrit. All rights reserved. Check us on Facebook