Mālatī Flower, Bee and Grass - मालती-गन्ध-गुण-विद्

mālatī-gandha-guṇavid
मालती-गन्ध-गुण-विद्

“The Mālatī-flower-fragrance-excellence-knowing-bee is not interested in darbha grass.”

Once a bee has known the fragrance of the Mālatī flowers, it does not have any more interest in grass blades. Once we know something of better quality, it is difficult to lower our standards. Another popular Hindi verse goes – “As the water of wealth grows, so does the lotus of desires, but when the water of wealth goes down, the lotus of desire does not go down again.”

( बढत-बढत संपत्ति-सलिल मन-सरोज बढि जाय । 

घटत-घटत पुनि ना घटे बरु समूल कुमलाय ॥ 

baḍhata-baḍhata sampatti-salila, mana-saroja baḍhi jāya ।

ghaṭata-ghaṭata puni nā ghaṭé, baru samūla kumalāya ॥ )

Think about a Mercedes or a Toyota, a Sony LED TV, a Canon SLR, a Bose speaker or an iPhone. We are talking about a quality in its own class. Once you get a taste of it, you cannot even look at other products.

We should realize that the world knows us by our work, deeds. Put full earnest effort in your deeds. It will give you the satisfaction of a job well done, it will be a source of joy to others as well.

Raise the bar on your own work. Does it delight your customers as much as a Sony or a Canon? Can you sell your computer program code on the street, if you are not already a product company? Does it have as easy a documentation as that of a DVD player? Or is it infested with ‘customized features’ that only a few in the team know in their head?

We should raise the bar on our quality and standard of work and taste. We should not remain content with hovering over grass leaves; sometimes rise all the way up to the heavenly fragrance of Mālatī flowers as well. Then you will not only get a high, you will give a high to your 'customers' as well.

Set your standards high.

Language notes:
मालतीगन्धगुणविद्दर्भे न रमते ह्यलिः
= मालती-गन्ध-गुणविद्-दर्भे न रमते हि-अलिः
= mālatī-gandha-guṇavid-darbhé na ramaté hi-aliḥ |

mālatī = variety of Jasmine flower.
gandha = smell, fragrance.
guṇa = characteristic.
-vid = knower.
darbha = the most common grass in India.
darbhé = in the grass.
ramaté = is interested. (enjoys)
aliḥ = bumble-bee, the big black one, not the little yellow honey bee; (technically, one with a sting like a bee or a scorpion)



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Knowledge is the beauty - विद्या रूपं कुरूपाणां

विद्या रूपं कुरूपाणां, निर्धनानां धनं तथा |
निर्बलानां बलं विद्या साधनीया प्रयत्नतः |

vidyA rUpam kurUpANam, nirdhanAnAm dhanam tathA |
nirbalAnAm balam vidyA, sAdhanIyA prayatnataH ||

Knowledge is the beauty of the not-beautiful and wealth of the not-wealthy.
It is power of the powerless, and it is obtained with lot of effort.


Normal understood form of beauty is what meets the eyes. But that is only the visual aspect of it. There is much more to a person. Even a not so beautiful person is liked, sought after if they have knowledge. Hardly any of the great minds have been dashing Elvis Presley's or Hrithik Roshan's.

The one without wealth can actually earn wealth by his or her knowledge. That is what we all do at our respective jobs - get paid for our knowledge.

And all people in positions of power are not necessarily physically powerful. They are given the positions due to their knowledge, for example, the judge.

And you may win a lottery and become rich overnight, but not with knowledge. It takes a lot of time to acquire it, turn it into wisdom and be worthy.


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and now the language aspects of the shloka -

विद्या = vidyA = knowledge

रूपं = = rUpam = beauty

कुरूपाणां = = kurUpANam = of the (-NAm suffix) ones not-beautiful (ku-rUpa) [plural]
rUpa = form, beauty

निर्धनानां = nirdhanAnAm = of the (-nAm suffix) those without (nir-) wealth (dhanam) [plural]

धनं = dhanam = wealth, money

तथा = tathA = and

निर्बलानां = nirbalAnAm = of the (-nAm suffix) those without (nir-) power (balam) [plural]

बलं = balam = power, strength

विद्या = vidyA = knowledge

साधनीया = sAdhanIyA = [is] attainable

प्रयत्नतः = prayatna-taH = by [-taH] complete/total/extra (pra- prefix) effort (yatna)

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Happy Holi!

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New book of Sanskrit Maxims in plain English.

Dear Practical Sanskrit lovers,
Thank you for your continued support, with an impressive following on the blog and Facebook. Your continued support encouraged me to think that Sanskrit and its wisdom still has taker. Seeing the popularity of the posts based on Sanskrit maxims, nyāyaḥ , I have compiled many of them and published in a print book form.

Shipping has started.

Please visit the website to order the book. You can read a sample of the book as well on the website or just scroll down in this page.

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Perched Eagle does not move - अगच्छन् वैनतेयोऽपि

agachchan vainatéyo’pi
अगच्छन् वैनतेयोऽपि

Garuḍa (गरुड) , son of Vinatā (विनता), is the king of the birds, akin to an eagle. It has golden wings, and hence is also called Suparṇa (सुपर्ण) . Because of his speed, Lord Viṣhṇu (विष्णु) requested him to be his transport.

But even the fast Garuḍa (गरुड) would not have moved a single step, if it actually does not move, that is, while it is perched. It does not matter how fast you are, what talents and strengths you have, unless you use them. On the other hand, an ant moves all the time. Small as it maybe, “a moving ant can cover miles of distance, but a sitting eagle would not have moved even a foot.” ( गच्छन्पिपीलिको याति योजनानां शतान्यपि । अगच्छन् वैनतेयोऽपि पदमेकं न गच्छति ॥ = gachchan_pipīlikāo yāti, yojanānām shatānyapi ; agachchhan vainatéyo’pi padamékam na gachchhati )

If you do not use your power and ability, then you will not achieve anything, or impress anyone. “Even the mighty, without power is insulted. See how people trample the ash (of the formerly burning coal) with impunity.” ( बलवानपि निस्तेजाः कस्य नाभिभवास्पदम् । निःशंकं दोयते लोकैः पश्य भस्मचये पदम् ॥ = balavān_api nistéjāḥ kasya nābhibhavāspadam । niḥshaṅkam doyaté lokaiḥ pashya bhasmachayé padam ॥ Hitopadéshaḥ, Suhṛida-bhédaḥ 173 )

In Rāmāyaṇa (रामायण), Rāma (राम) prayed to the sea for three days to give way to him, but the sea did not. Rāma (राम) told Lakṣhmaṇa (लक्ष्मण) that while mercy suits the powerful, no one acknowledges unless you express your power.

Unless you take the first step, the journey does not begin. No amount of wishing or planning will take you any closer to success, unless you take the first step. As soon as the hare dozed off, the tortoise effectively started to win. Edison said that success is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. Sweat it out. Work on your plan once you have planned your work. Journey starts with a step.

Use your powers. Take initiative.

Language notes: 
अगच्छन् वैनतेयोऽपि पदमेकं न गच्छति ॥ = agachchhan vainatéyo’pi padamékam na gachchhati

gachchan = गच्छन्  = going
pipīliko / pipīlikaḥ = पिपीलिको / पिपीलिकः  = a male ant (the large black one)
yāti = याति = goes
yojanānām = योजनानां = yojana (a measure of distance, various values, the most common being 9 miles)
shatānyapi = शतान्यपि = shatāni + api = hundres + also/even

agachchhan = अगच्छन् = while not going.
vainatéyo’pi = वैनतेयोऽपि = vainatéyaḥ (son of Vanitā, Garuḍa, akin to an eagle) + api (also).
padamékam = पदमेकं = padam (step) + ékam (one).
na = न = not.
gachchhati = गच्छति = goes.

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Untimely done is not even done - अकाले कृतम्

Untimely done is not even done

akālé kṛitam
अकाले कृतम्

Disasters like the Bhuj (2001) or Lātūr (1993) earthquakes, Bihār or Karṇāṭaka floods (2008-9), Indian Ocean tsunami (2004), Hurricane Katrina (2005) or the Chilé mine disaster (2010) to name a few, make it amply clear that in times of need, the need is for timely deed. The rescue, aid and rehabilitation, all need to happen before it is too late for the victims. Something done late is as good as not done at all. Incidentally, the World Bank approved $220 million of loan for the Bihār flood of 2008 on 12th January 2011. A full three years later. What timing! While the grass grows, the horse starves.

An ideal charity is one “that is given to a worthy and needy person who cannot return favor and is given in the right place and time” (Bhagavat Gītā 17:20). Who has the need, where is the need and when is the need –are all critical to helping.

Timely effort is essential. If you are a product company, you have to reach the market before time. If you are a student, you have to reach the bus stop on time to catch the morning school bus. If you are late, you might as well have slept off a little longer that day! Plan out beforehand, or else plan to work overtime, but there is not much point to reach when the party is all over.

If you are a manager, help an employee succeed before he or she fails. Set them up for success. Do not wait until the yearly review, when it is too late to improve. It is not much help to give incentives after the employee resigns, or trying to fix performance after you get fired.

Do not delay. Timing is of essence.

Language notes:
अकाले कृतमकृतं स्यात् = अकाले कृतं-अकृतं स्यात् = akālé kṛitam-akṛitaṃ syāt.

akālé = untimely.
kṛitam = done.
akṛitaṃ = not done.
syāt = is (perhaps, maybe)

The full shloka from Bhagavat Gītā 17:20 -
दातव्यमिति यद्दानं दीयतेऽनुपकारिणे ।
देशे काले च पात्रे च तद्दानं सात्त्विकं स्मृतम् ॥
dātavyamiti yaddānam dīyaté’anupakāriṇé ।
déshé kale cha pātré cha taddānam sāttvikam smṛitam ॥

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Blind men and the Elephant - अन्ध-गज न्यायः

Blind men and the Elephant

andha-gaja nyāyaḥ
अन्ध-गज न्यायः

This popular nyāya has traveled the world over. Several blind men are feeling an elephant and describing their truths. While the one touching the trunk thought of it as a banana tree trunk, one touching the ears thought of it as a large hand fan, one touching the legs thought of it as a pillar. The one touching the stomach imagined it to be a wall and the one touching the tail said it was a snake. They all were correct, but only partially. And even if they combined their truths together, they would never succeed in getting the whole truth. It was not a wall and a snake and a fan and a pillar. It was an elephant.

If you look at the human body, it is made of various systems like the circulatory, respiratory, skeleton etc. but the body is more than just these systems. And you are more than just the body or your title and position. Get the big picture. The whole is more than the sum of the parts.

We usually have only partial truth, even though it appears to be absolute. Others have their own. The big picture is very important to understand the complete truth. People see according to their own capability.

Leaders need to be able to see the big picture and pass on the vision. A true leader is one in whom the team trusts enough to buy in his or her vision, even if they do not see it thus. When the leader sees an elephant, the team sees it as well, in the eyes of the leader – beyond their wall, pillar, snake and fan.

Keep the big picture in mind.

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and now the language aspects -

अन्ध-गज न्यायः = andha-gaja nyāyaḥ

andha = blind.
gaja = elephant.

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The joy of Shiva - good wishes of Mahashivaratri महा-शिव-रात्रि !

वन्दे शम्भुं उमा-पतिं सुर-गुरुं वन्दे जगत्कारणम्
वन्दे पन्नग-भूषणं मृगधरं वन्दे पशूनां पतिम् ।
वन्दे सूर्य-शशांक-वह्नि-नयनं वन्दे मुकुन्द-प्रियम्
वन्दे भक्त-जनाश्रयं च वरदं वन्दे शिवं शंकरम् ॥

vande shambhum umA-patim sura-gurum vande jagat-kAraNam
vande pannaga-bhUShaNam mRiga-dharam vande pashUnAm patim |
vande sUrya-shashA~Nka-vahni-nayanam vande mukunda-priyam
vande bhakta-janAshrayam cha varadam vande shivam sha~Nkaram ||

vandé shambhum umā-patim sura-gurum vandé jagat-kāraṇam
vandé pannaga-bhūṣhaṇam mṛiga-dharam vandé pashūnām patim |
vandé sūrya-shashāṅka-vahni-nayanam vandé mukunda-priyam
vandé bhakta-janāshrayam cha varadam vandé shivam shaṅkaram ||


This classic mantra in praise of the Great Lord, mahAdeva (महादेव), the Great Time (mahA-kAla महा-काल) is a good source for various names of Shiva (शिव) which also define its attributes for the form-meditating devotee.

Let us see them one by one.

The -am at the end of all the words makes them the object of 'vande', that is, I [give] praise to the "...-am"

shambhu
The root verb 'sham' (शम्) means to pacify, calm down, even be tired, suppressed, to destroy. Shiva in his rudra (रुद्र violent) form destroys the bad and in its benign form brings peace, calmness of a yogI (योगी). The same root is in the name sha~Nkara (शङ्कर) which mean that which does 'calming', that is, brings calm, peace, good.


umA-pati
We saw in an earlier post the name umA (उमा), for pArvatI (पार्वती). When the beautiful young princess, daughter of himAlaya (हिमालय) decided to win over shiva by her beauty and service she failed miserably. In the process, even kAma (काम), the god of desire was burnt alive, forever without a body. He was henceforth called ananga (अनङ्ग) - one without a body.

This made pArvatI even more determined and she chose the path of the ascetics. When she made her decision known, her mother menA (मेना) cried out in anguish - 'u mA' उ मा (oh! no.). And hence pArvatI got her name as 'umA'.

Of course, when the divine lady were to penance, as tough as she did that she even stopped eating fallen leaves (for which she was called a-parNA अ-पर्णा, without leaves), the divine god can't resist for too long. Convinced of her devotion, shiva finally weds her. And hence he is called 'umA-pati' = husband of umA (उमा).


sura-guru
He is also called the guru of the gods themselves. The divine beings are called devatA (देवता) or deva (देव) and are the multi-faceted manifestation of the same divine principle, somewhat like the Greek gods. There are many occasions when they all go to Shiva for help. The most dreaded times of the churning of the celestial ocean produced, as its first output, the poisonous halAhala (हलाहल), which was like a black dense liquid that suffocated everyone. Whenever I think of this, the image of oil and gas extraction comes to my mind. How poisonous natural oil is as is, it destroys beaches, soil, water everything. The same oil when tamed and purified properly is the greatest boon of modern age!

So, when halAhala was suffocating everyone, it was Shiva who drank it up and stopped it in his throat, and got a new name - nIla-kaNTha (नीलकण्ठ blue throat-ed).

jagat-kAraNa
While devotees of various forms of the same divine principle claim that their favorite (iShTa इष्ट) deity is the one and all, cause of the creation etc., we must understand it properly, without bias.

The 'concept' of Shiva is that of change, the transformer. Change being time, he is called mahA-kAla, the Great Time. And hence, he is the cause of the universe. Nothing is beyond Time. All things happen in its domain.

His association with Time is unambiguous - snake, moon, the Sun and Moon as his two eyes, and his very name mahA-kAla (Great Time) all suggest that shiva is the paramount concept of time and change.

pannaga-bhUShaNa
The snake is another symbol of Time. Even the symbol of snake eating its own tail, that Kekule saw in his dream, helped him think up the molecular structure of Benzene, one of the major breakthrough of organic chemistry. Shiva has wrist bands, necklaces, arms bands of such snakes. While other sophisticated gods have golden jewelry to adorn them, Shiva has the raw nature embodied in him. The river ga~NgA, the snake, the bull, the tiger skin, living on snow mountains, the ashes, the primordial instrument of Damaru (डमरु twin drum) - all are evidence of Shiva manifesting in the creation! The TIME is in everything. Everything is transforming every moment, and this is Shiva!

mRiga-dhara, pashUnAm pati
Shiva represents the force of life, he sustains the living beings. He represents fertility, the regenerative force. This is important to remember, because people mistakenly think he is the destroyer! He is the transformer, old to new, new to old. The support of all life force, animals. His symbol of lingam (लिङ्गं) and his ride the bull, both represent the regenerative force of life, without which there would be no such discussions possible! Growing up with synthetic values make people wonder about the forms of Shiva.

sUrya-shashA~Nka-vahni-nayana
This comes back as him representing Time. He is called tri-netra (त्रि-नेत्र), tryambakam (त्र्यम्बकं) - the three eyed. Sun and Moon are his two normal eyes - marking the movement in the physical world, day and night. The third eye is the eye of knowledge, the fire that burns the dead junk of desires, removes the darkness of ignorance and shines inside out. It is the eye with which he destroyed kAma-deva (or desire).

May the Great Lord bless you on mahA-shiva-rAtrI महा-शिव-रात्रि !

See this older post for more Shiva mantras.


If you like the posts on the blog, please support by checking out the new book on Sanskrit Maxims. Your support is very much needed and appreciated to keep bringing ancient wisdom in modern context. Please visit Attitude Shift - Sanskrit Maxims for Contemporary Life and Leadership.


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and now the language aspects of the shloka -

वन्दे = vande = i praise

शम्भुं = shambhum = to the shambhu

उमा-पतिं = umA-patim = to the husband (pati) of pArvatI (umA)

सुर-गुरुं = sura-gurum = to the guru of the gods (sura)

जगत्कारणम् = jagat-kAraNam = to the cause (kAraNa) of the world (jagat)

पन्नग-भूषणं = to the who who has ornaments (bhUShaNa) of serpents (pannaga)

मृगधरं = to teh sustainer (dhara) of living beings/animals (pashu)

पशूनां पतिम् = pashUnAm patim = to the protector (pati) of animals (pashu)

सूर्य-शशांक-वह्नि-नयनं = to the one whose eyes (nayana) are the sun (sUrya), moon (shashA~Nka) and fire (vahni)

मुकुन्द-प्रियम् = to the one dear (priyam) to viSHNu (mukunda)

भक्त-जनाश्रयं = to the refuge (Ashrya) of the devoted (bhakta) people (jana)

च = and

वरदं = to the giver (-da) of boons (vara)

शिवं = to the auspicious (shiva)

शंकरम् = to the one who does (karam) good (sham)

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