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)




(c) Shashikant Joshi । शशिकांत जोशी । ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः ।

https://PracticalSanskrit.com/

https://facebook.com/PracticalSanskrit  

Where not to live - यस्मिन्देशे न संमानो

The place where there is neither respect, nor income, or relatives

nor earning of any knowledge, leave that place.

yasmindeśhe na saṃmāno na vṛttirna ca bāndhavaḥ ।
na ca vidyāgamaḥ kaśhcittaṃ deśhaṃ parivarjayet ॥

yasmindeshe na sammAno na vRittirna cha bAndhavaH .
na cha vidyAgamaH kashchittam desham parivarjayet ..

यस्मिन्देशे न संमानो न वृत्तिर्न च बान्धवः ।
न च विद्यागमः कश्चित्तं देशं परिवर्जयेत् ॥

This is said in the Hitopadeśha, when Hiraṇyaka wanted to leave his place and go with his friend, the crow, who was planning to move to a larger lake. In this connection, Hiraṇyaka recites three śhlokas about where one should or should not live. The first one is this.

From a practical standpoint, why do we live in or move to a certain place?

Either we were born there, and our family has been living there for generations. There are people who haven’t left their village for nineteen generations, having lived and died in the same place that was founded when their great-great-great-great-grandfather, nineteen generations ago, stopped there to rest and found it worth settling in! And now, after nineteen generations, it has grown into a small village with its own zip code.

Family keeps us in a place. There are students—or, more accurately, the parents of such students—who decide which college to attend based on its proximity to home rather than solely on its academic merit.

Or, we may move to a place for education. Oh boy, is that news! The majority of youth immigrants in the US are students. Indian students are going to Australia, even in the face of racial attacks, simply because if a US visa isn’t possible, then an Australian one will do. Got to get that degree!

If not for education, then surely for livelihood—a better job moves people across the globe. The US immigration and work permit system is a great example of this. People from all over the world come to the US in search of a better job and to make their dreams come true.

And sometimes, family has passed away or moved away, the job is lost, and there is no further scope for studying, and yet we continue to stay. Why? Because everyone around adores us, loves us, or respects us. So we keep plodding along, even though there is nothing else left for us there.

But if you have none of these four—respect, livelihood, family, or knowledge—then why stay? It’s better to move on!

In the next posts, we will explore other criteria for deciding where to live and where not to.

---

And now the language aspects of the shloka -

yasmindeshe na sammAno na vRittirna cha bAndhavaH |
na cha vidyAgamaH kashchittam desham parivarjayet ||

breakup:
yasmin deshe, na sammAnaH, na vRittiH, na cha bAndhavaH
na cha vidyA AgamaH kashchit, tam desham parivarjayet

yaH = that which
yasmin = in that which
deshaH = region, place (nation is rAShTra, not desha)
deshe = in region/place

na = not
sammAno = sammAnaH = samyak + mAnaH
= samyak = complete, whole
mAnaH = respect

na = not
vRittiH = livelihood

na = not
cha = and
bAndhavaH = relatives

na = not
cha = and
vidyAgamaH = vidyA + AgamaH
vidyA = knowledge
AgamaH = inflow, coming in
kashchit = any, some

tam = (to) that
deshaM = (to) region/place
parivarjayet = leave, abandon




(c) Shashikant Joshi । शशिकांत जोशी । ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः ।

https://PracticalSanskrit.com/

https://facebook.com/PracticalSanskrit