The four poisons - अनभ्यासे विषं विद्या

when not practiced, knowledge is poison; in indigestion, food is poison |
poison is gathering/festivities of poor; old man's young wife is poison ||

अनभ्यासे विषं विद्या अजीर्णे भोजनं विषम् ।
विषं सभा दरिद्रस्य वृद्धस्य तरुणी विषम् ॥

anabhyAse viShaM vidyA, ajIrNe bhojanaM viShaM |
viShaM sabhA daridrasya, vRiddhasya taruNI viShaM ||

half knowledge is dangerous. and the knowledge not remembered properly is decaying like radioactive material, reaching its half life in a few years or months if we don't use it, practice it. e.g. how many of us remember what is "Pb" or "Ag" or "Mn" in chemistry? or what is "d" energy level in an atom? but when we base our discussion, decision, argument on half remembered facts or knowledge without adding "i think so, or maybe" but with full authority, we can have a difficult situation!


the same food which gives us nourishment and energy to live, the most essential thing in this life after air, the same food can become poison, worse, in indigestion! the best medicine for indigestion is lot of water, and fasting. a day or two of minimal, simple food and lot of water, cures most stomach ailments. one of the main reasons for fasting is this. it is not to please god, god doesn't need pleasing, s/he is already "sat-chit-Ananda" i.e. "truth-consciousness-bliss".

prayers are for us, fasting is for us, vows are for us, austerity is for us. it purifies us, sets a goal for us, hardens our resolve. some words for fasting have nothing to do with fasting. "vrata" means a pledge. and "upa-vAsa" means 'to be next to'. the idea of 'upavAsa' is to forget about food (and mortal) worries, and spend the extra time near god, in thoughts of the higher issues, beyond just the material needs. that can be done by studying spiritual texts, or the religious texts (if they are not constipated texts), or in the company of wise, selfless people.

even that is a boon - to meet selfless, wise, content, enlightened people - also called "santa" in sanskrit and hindi and saint in english. 'one gets to meet santa, sajjan only by the grace of god' - so says tulasi-dAsa.


why is gathering of poor called poison? don't they have rights to enjoy, or unite? surely this is a sign of extreme oppression and bias against the less privileged sections of the society! one should avoid such readings, such writers, such texts, such society or 'religion' that says such things.

this type of questioning and conclusion are so dangerous! the true intent has to be understood without presumptions. else we may miss out on a treasure trough of wisdom.

there are two versions of this shloka, one uses 'sabhA' (assembly, gathering, senate, council), other uses 'goShThi', (party, function).

using the first one, means that gathering of resource-less people doesn't accomplish much. using the second means that the poor should not waste time and money in useless extravagant partying maybe in imitation of the 'rich'. they should rather find jobs, work harder and become better off economically.


a young wife of an old man is poison for him. sometimes literally! if the old man is stinking rich as well! but the expectations of a young woman might be too much to keep up with for an old (not just older) man. there is a lot of mismatch - physical stamina, mental maturity, perspectives in life. and per kAmasutra, and many other sources, an unsatisfied wife goes astray, which then ruins the reputation of the involved parties! it is again a matter of matching up the person and skill sets :) as covered in the other shloka (ashvaH, shastraM, shAstraM...)

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now the shloka at hand -

anabhyAse = in (-e) not (an-) practice (abhyAsa)

viShaM = poison, bad for

vidyA = knowledge, studies

ajIrNe = in indigestion, from a + jIrNa = not jIrNa
jIrNa = decaying, tattered. jIrNa-avasthA = old age, tattered stage.
food is broken down in the stomach for absorption of nutrients. this also hints at a deeper understanding of the human body and metabolism, which has a long tradition in ayurveda and yoga (all diseases start with bad metabolism). there are many, many references to this.

bhojanaM = food
root bhuk, to consume. other words - bhog (use, consumption, offering of food sample to the divine), bhojya (that which can be consumed); in hindi, bhojana = food, bhookha = hunger

sabhA = gathering

daridrasya = of (-sya) the poor (daridra)

vRiddhasya = of (-sya) the old (vRiddha)

taruNI = young woman (wife) [masc. taruNa]

hitopadesh has gathered lot of simple and good wisdom from various sources, as declared in its preface itself. taking the structure of panchatantra, and wisdom from everywhere. a lot from chANakya is inevitable for neeti works. and to be honest, wherever this lifting is done, the author changes some little thing to indicate the reference.

there is another, older version of this shloka attributed to chANakya:
durAdhItA viShaM vidyA ..
and durAdhItA means badly undertaken/understood.

duH- dur- prefix for bad, wrong e.g. durjana, durbhAgya
adhItA = that which was studied (fem.). other words - adhyayana (study), adhyApana (teaching), adhyApaka (teacher), adhyAya (chapter).
aShTAdhyAyI = eight chaptered (pANinI's classic work on linguistics and sanskrit grammar)

another famous place where adhItaM is used is:
om, saha nAvavatu [nau avatu], saha nau bhunaktu, saha vIryaM karvAvahai,
tejasvI nAvadhItamastu ...

this is a shAntI pATha (peace invocation) where the students (and possibly including the guru in the prayer) are praying for their togetherness and success.

here bhunaktu comes from bhunk. "me we eat, enjoy the fruits, together"
tejasvI (brilliant) nau (our) adhItaM (studies) astu (may/let be) = let our studies (undertakings) be brilliant (successful)


PS: photos are for visual appeal only and bear no other connection or importance to the article!




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Crane among swans - हंसमध्ये बको यथा

mother is enemy, father is competitor, by whom the child is not educated |
(who) doesn't grace the (august) assembly, as the crane amongst swans||
माता शत्रुः पिता वैरी, येन बालो न पाठितः ।
न शोभते सभामध्ये, हंसमध्ये बको यथा ॥ ०-२९

mAtA shatruH pitA vairI, yena bAlo na pAThitaH |
na shobhate sabhAmadhye, haMsamadhye bako yathA ||

the importance of education has been a hallmark of indian culture and tradition. even today we find indians go abroad to many countries, and no matter where they go, they flourish and thrive and add to the local economy and society. president obama is even asking the american children to stand up and measure up to the indian and chinese students in competition.

education and knowledge have always been important. there are many shlokas on the importance of education itself. and even today, in modern india, when education is fast becoming a business, the thirst of the parent to send the children to good school, or just to school is so strong that now it is sometimes difficult to distinguish which school is good school!

why this importance of education? and what kind of education?
there are two types of "education" - one is to acquire a skill to help in livelihood, the other is a much more in depth study of a topic, with more abstract or far reaching effects. either one, needs education, a trainer, teacher, an environment where one can learn.

so it is not just for the "upper class" engineers, bankers, lawyers, doctors etc. that education is important. even the child of a glass-smith, farmer, factory worker, coal miner needs education. and contrary to modern beliefs that education was only the right of the "upper class", there were types of education and students chose according to their own needs and capacity.

here in this shloka from hitopadesh, of course, the king is thinking about his useless princes who are not worthy yet of being a king. and he is thinking that as a parent it is his responsibility to educate his children, else they will be like crane among swans.

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now the shloka at hand:

mAtA = mother, from mAtri, root of word like mother, mader, madri, mater (alma mater), matriarchal, matri-mony

shatruH = enemy

pitA = father, from pitRi, root of words like father, padre, paternal, patri-cide, patriarchal

vairI = opponent, from veera = brave. one who has a posture of bravery against you, as if your opponent, competitor.
so a father who doesn't educate the child, is like a jealous competitor who doesn't want the child to excel the father. and a true father is always happy to see his children excel him, just like a true leader is happy to see his people excel himself.

yena = by whom
bAlo = bAlaH, child, boy

na = not
pAThitaH = (the one who) is educated, taught

shobhate = graces
sabhAmadhye = sabhA + madhye
sabhA = assembly, gathering (of august people)
madhya = center, among, between
madhye = in the center

haMsamadhye = haMsa + madhye
haMsa = swam

bako = bakaH, crane. this is an interesting word.
vaGk (vank) = crooked, a bend in a river course.
[*G is the nasal of the ka-group, sounds like n in gang, slang, sang]
a crane is a crooked bird in design as it dupes the fish and grabs them in its claws.
any person of such nature is called bakaH in sanskrit or "bagulA" in hindi.
there is also the story of the crane and crab!
there is an Asana in yoga named after it, bakAsana.

yathA = as, like




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Knowledge leads to happiness - विद्या ददाति विनयम्

(true/complete) knowledge gives discipline, from discipline comes worthiness, from worthiness one gets wealth, from wealth (one does) good deeds, from that (comes) joy.

विद्या ददाति विनयं विनयाद्याति पात्रताम् ।
पात्रत्वाद्धनमाप्नोति धनाद्धर्मं ततः सुखम् ॥ ५ ॥

vidyA dadAti vinayaM, vinayAdyAti pAtratAM |
pAtratvAddhanamApnoti, dhanAddharmaM tataH sukhaM || 5 ||
(Hitopadesha)

interestingly, a recent article in Ode magazine talked about altruism in economy. 40 years of research results in the dawning of one fact - it may be that economy is not all about money, but about the over all good of the society.

arthashAstra - the classic treatise of economics and polity by chANakya stresses time and again (and so do wise men before and after him) that society comes together not for one person's benefit but for each other's benefit. so how come we can call it a success if only a few benefit and many suffer - which is what happens in modern 'free market'.

the very concept of society is for the good of all the involved parties.
and this is also where a great tenet of karma-yoga comes.

since whatever you have, has come due to the collective effort of the society as a whole (e.g. the cloths you wear, food you eat, car you drive, could not be created by you alone, it needed society's collaboration), similarly the money and resource you have under your control is also for all, you merely have the CONTROL over its use.

the one who eats alone is the greatest sinner. - thus speak the shAstra!

think about it.
simple sanskrit. great ideas.

Check out the book Attitude Shift - Sanskrit Maxims for Contemporary Life and Leadership.

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about the shloka at hand:

vidyA = knowledge; from root vid, there are many words.
sam-vedana = to know together, know same as other, sympathy)
A-vedana = announcement, to be let known
ni-vedana = request, inform
vid = to be present, as in vidyamAn


dadAti = dad verb, to give. -da as suffix makes adjectives


vinayaM = training, discipline, cultured mannerism (from training), humbleness.
root 'nee' which means to take (away).
e.g. netA = leader; who leads, takes (to the goal)
abhinetA = actor, who leads us emotionally through the story by his/her acting
neeti = policy, that which leads (the nation, organization, person to their goal)

vinayAt = from discipline, humbleness

yAti = comes. yA = movement
AyAta = import (coming in)
niryAta = export (going out)
yAtAyAta = traffic, transportation


pAtratAM = worthiness
pAtra = container, vessel, recipient
a-pAtra dAna = charity to an undeserving, unworthy

pAtratvAt = from worthiness

dhanaM = wealth, money

dhanAt = from wealth (-At suffix meaning from)
dharmaM = the right thing, charity, good deeds, duty [NOT religion]
tataH = from that
sukhaM = happiness, opposite of sorrow, lack of pain. cf. sukhAsana = the comfort posture.

Check out the book Attitude Shift - Sanskrit Maxims for Contemporary Life and Leadership.

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Follow knowledge and wealth like immortal youths

Like ever-young immortal, the wise should think about knowledge and wealth; as if 'grabbed-by-the-hair-by-Death' one should follow the path of dharma.

अजरामरवत्प्राज्ञो विद्यामर्थं च चिन्तयेत् ।
गृहीत इव केशेषु मृत्युना धर्ममाचरेत् ॥ ०-१

ajarāmaravat-prājño vidyāmarthaṃ cha chintayet |
gṛihīta iva keśheṣhu mṛityunā dharmamācharet ||


Like (-vat) the ever-young (ajara) immortal (amara), the wise (prājñaḥ) should think (chintayet) about knowledge (vidyāṃ) and (cha) wealth (arthaṃ); as if grabbed (gṛihīta) by the hair (keṣheśhu) by Death (mṛityunā) one should follow the path (ācharet) of dharma (dharmam).

jara = decayed, one that decays, get old;
a-jara = one that doesn't get old
amara = a-mara = that which doesn't die, immortal
-vat as in amaravat = suffix denoting 'like' (an immortal)
prājñaḥ = wise, from pra + jña = complete, full knowledge; one who has full, complete knowledge
kesha = hair; kesheṣhu - (in)/by the hair; hand in the hair grabbing the locks
mṛityu = death; mṛityuna= by death
ācharet = from char - wander, walk; ācharaṇa = behaviour, āchārya = a teacher who can teach just by example of his behaviour.

So the question obviously is why follow knowledge and wealth like a greedy immortal youth? But dharma only as if an old man on death bed?

Not so.

To gain full knowledge it takes time. There is no short cut to knowing and learning something properly. As another shloka says that one learns a quarter from the teacher, quarter from self-study, quarter from colleagues and the last quarter only with the passage of time. Just like slow cooked food is yummy, slow cooked knowledge, deliberated upon, reflected upon, which seeps in slowly deep in the brain, where it can create new knowledge - that takes time.

Acquiring of wealth is also a time consuming process, if done legally. Nowadays, people want to be rich, quick.
That is not possible if you are planning to earn the wealth yourselves, legitimately. Shortcuts in getting rich always involves some wrongdoing. Maybe in the digital age when you can reach almost the whole world, one may become rich quickly even by collecting a dime per person, but we are talking the traditional works.

So give time, don't rush in acquiring knowledge and wealth. Do them right.

In doing good deeds, there is no need to wait, on the other hand, one should go as muchgood as possible, as soon as possible. For who knows when one may have to go. This sense of doing good can also be for executing one's duty, job, work. Very good work ethics, finish off whatever you have to do. Why wait?

Do good, as if today is your last day to make the deposits of good karma, do good hastily!


Simple Sanskrit. great ideas!

[Modified on 2015-07-30]




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