Pluck the fruit after ripening - वनस्पतेरपक्वानि फलानि प्रचिनोति यः

वनस्पतेरपक्वानि फलानि प्रचिनोति यः |
स नाप्नोति रसं तेभ्यो बीजं चास्य विनश्यति ||

vanaspaterapakvāni phalāni prachinoti yaḥ |
sa nāpnoti rasaṃ tebhyo bījaṃ chāsya vinashyati ||

vanaspaterapakvAni phalAni prachinoti yaH |
sa nApnoti rasaM tebhyo bIjaM chAsya vinashyati ||

"One who plucks the unripened fruits from the trees, he doesn't get the juice of the fruit, and the seed is also destroyed."

This shloka of Vidura Neeti talks about patience in work. When we plant a tree, say of mango, it will take years for it to give fruits. When we have put in so much effort, and then we see the buds coming out, the flowers bloom, and see the first sight of the fruits. It is very important to keep patience now. We should not pluck the fruits before they ripen.

At the first sight of fruits of our effort, we may jump to start tasting it. But, let it ripen fully, so that not only it will taste better, it will give you seeds for future trees as well.

You can think of this as the last 5%. Most of us have this problem. The last finishing touch, the last mile, is where we give up. The runner, who looks back at the last meter (of the 100 meter dash) or who relaxes in the last stride may lose the race even if s/he was leading.

Large projects at enormous cost are sanctioned and by the end of it, the momentum goes down, and we start to 'wrap it up now' thus lowering the quality. We may drive across the country for 2000 miles without a problem, and just when we are 50 miles from home, we take it easy, relax our reflexes, and get a traffic ticket or worse, an accident.

This is all so evident in cooking. Even the last minute matters, you can't just take it off the stove sooner!

The arrow's momentum diminishes, be prepared for it. Keep yourself motivated till the end. Don't make the slip at the very end.

Read the book of Sanskrit sayings -  Attitude Shift - Sanskrit Maxims for Contemporary Life and Leadership .

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and now the language aspects of the shloka -

yaH vanaspateH apakvAni phalAni prachinoti, saH tebhyaH rasam na Apnoti, asya bIjam cha vinashyati |

वनस्पतेरपक्वानि = vanaspaterapakvAni = vanaspateH + apakvAni
vanaspati = vanaH + pati = lord of the forest = large tree
vanaspateH = of the trees

pakvam = ripe (pakvAni , plural)
a-pakvAni = unripe

फलानि = phalAni = fruits

प्रचिनोति = prachinoti = plucks, picks

यः = yaH = one who

स = sa = saH = he

नाप्नोति = nApnoti = na + Apnoti
= does not get

रसं = rasam = juice, essence

तेभ्यो = tebhyo = tebhyaH = their

बीजं = bIjam = seed

चास्य = chAsya = cha + asya = and its

विनश्यति = vinashyati = destroys, gets destroyed


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