Chapter 10: On Learning, Discernment, and Social Conduct

Verse 1

धनहीनो न हीनश्च धनिकः स सुनिश्चयः । विद्यारत्नेन हीनो यः स हीनः सर्ववस्तुषु ॥

Lack of wealth does not make a person inferior, nor does wealth alone make one certainly superior. He who lacks the “jewel of learning” is deficient in all things.

Verse 2

दृष्टिपूतं न्यसेत्पादं वस्त्रपूतं पिबेज्जलम् । शास्त्रपूतं वदेद्वाक्यः मनःपूतं समाचरेत् ॥

Place your step only after the eye has examined it; drink water only after it has been strained through cloth. Speak only after testing your words by śāstra; act only after the mind has purified the intent.

Verse 3

सुखार्थी चेत्त्यजेद्विद्यां विद्यार्थी चेत्त्यजेत्सुखम् । सुखार्थिनः कुतो विद्या सुखं विद्यार्थिनः कुतः ॥

If you seek comfort, you will abandon learning; if you seek learning, you will abandon comfort. How can the comfort-seeker gain knowledge? How can the knowledge-seeker gain comfort?

Verse 4

कवयः किं न पश्यन्ति किं न भक्षन्ति वायसाः । मद्यपाः किं न जल्पन्ति किं न कुर्वन्ति योषितः ॥

What do poets not see? What do crows not eat? What do drunkards not babble? What do women not do?

Verse 5

रङ्कं करोति राजानं राजानं रङ्कमेव च । धनिनं निर्धनं चैव निर्धनं धनिनं विधिः ॥

Fate can make a pauper a king and a king a pauper; it can make the wealthy destitute and the destitute wealthy.

Verse 6

लुब्धानां याचकः शत्रुर्मूर्खानां बोधको रिपुः । जारस्त्रीणां पतिः शत्रुश्चौराणां चन्द्रमा रिपुः ॥

The verse describes a traditional set of antagonisms: for the greedy, a petitioner is treated as an enemy; for the foolish, an instructor is regarded as a foe; for women engaged in adultery, the husband is characterized as an adversary; and for thieves, the moon is portrayed as an enemy.

Verse 7

येषां न विद्या न तपो न दानं ज्ञानं न शीलां न गुणो न धर्मः । ते मर्त्यलोके भुवि भारभूता मनुष्यरूपेण मृगाश्चरन्ति ॥

The verse describes that those in whom there is neither learning (vidyā), nor disciplined practice (tapas), nor generosity (dāna), nor knowledge (jñāna), nor good conduct (śīla), nor virtue/merit (guṇa), nor dharma are portrayed as burdens upon the earth in the human world, moving about like animals while bearing human form.

Verse 8

अन्तःसारविहीनानामुपदेशो न जायते । मलयाचलसंसर्गान्न वेणुश्चन्दनायते ॥

The text describes that instruction does not take root in those lacking inner substance. By analogy, it notes that even through contact with the Malaya mountain (associated with sandalwood), a bamboo does not become sandalwood.

Verse 9

यस्य नास्ति स्वयं प्रज्ञा शास्त्रं तस्य करोति किम् । लोचनाभ्यां विहीनस्य दर्पणः किं करिष्यति ॥

The verse depicts a traditional view that for a person who lacks innate discernment (prajñā), learned treatises (śāstra) accomplish little; it illustrates this through the analogy that a mirror is of no use to one who is without eyes.

Verse 10

दुर्जनं सज्जनं कर्तुमुपायो नहि भूतले । अपानं शातधा धौतं न श्रेष्ठमिन्द्रियं भवेत् ॥

The verse describes a traditional view that, in the world, there is no effective means to transform a wicked person into a virtuous one; it illustrates this through a metaphor that even if a base vessel is washed a hundred times, it does not become a superior object.

Verse 11

आप्तद्वेषाद्भवेन्मृत्युः परद्वेषाद्धनक्षयः । राजद्वेषाद्भवेन्नाशो ब्रह्मद्वेषात्कुलक्षयः ॥

Hostility toward trusted allies brings death; hostility toward others brings loss of wealth; hostility toward the king brings ruin; hostility toward Brahmins brings the decline of one’s lineage.

Verse 12

वरं वनं व्याघ्रगजेन्द्रसेवितं द्रुमालयं पत्रफलाम्बुसेवनम् । तृणेषु शय्या शतजीर्णवल्कलं न बन्धुमध्ये धनहीनजीवनम् ॥

Better to dwell in a forest roamed by tigers and lordly elephants, among trees, living on leaves, fruits, and water—grass for a bed and long-worn bark for clothing—than to live among kinsmen in poverty.

Verse 13

विप्रो वृक्षस्तस्य मूलं च सन्ध्या वेदः शाखा धर्मकर्माणि पत्रम् । तस्मान्मूलं यत्नतो रक्षणीयं छिन्ने मूले नैव शाखा न पत्रम् ॥

A Brahmin is like a tree: the sandhyā rites are its root, the Veda its branches, and deeds of dharma its leaves. Therefore guard the root with care; when the root is cut, there are neither branches nor leaves.

Verse 14

माता च कमला देवी पिता देवो जनार्दनः । बान्धवा विष्णुभक्ताश्च स्वदेशो भुवनत्रयम् ॥

My mother is the goddess Kamalā, my father is Janārdana; my kinsmen are devotees of Viṣṇu, and my homeland is the three worlds.

Verse 15

एकवृक्षसमारूढा नानावर्णा विहङ्गमाः । प्रभाते दिक्षु दशसु यान्ति का तत्र वेदना ॥

Birds of many colors gather on a single tree; at dawn they fly off in the ten directions—what is there to lament in that?

Verse 16

बुद्धिर्यस्य बलं तस्य निर्बुद्धेश्च कुतो बलम् । वने सिंहो यदोन्मत्तः मशकेन निपातितः ॥

Intellect is the strength of the intelligent; for the witless, whence could strength arise? In the forest, even a frenzied lion can be brought down by a mosquito.

Verse 17

का चिन्ता मम जीवने यदि हरिर्विश्वम्भरो गीयते नो चेदर्भकजीवनाय जननीस्तन्यं कथं निर्ममे । इत्यालोच्य मुहुर्मुहुर्यदुपते लक्ष्मीपते केवलं त्वत्पादाम्बुजसेवनेन सततं कालो मया नीयते ॥

What need have I to worry for my life, if Hari—the sustainer of the world—is sung? Were that sustaining power absent, how would a mother’s milk arise to keep an infant alive? Reflecting thus again and again, O Yadupati, O Lakṣmīpati, I spend my time always in service at your lotus-feet.

Verse 18

गीर्वाणवाणीषु विशिष्टबुद्धि- स्तथापि भाषान्तरलोलुपोऽहम् । यथा सुधायाममरेषु सत्यां स्वर्गाङ्गनानामधरासवे रुचिः ॥

Though my intellect is distinguished in the language of the gods, I still yearn for other tongues—just as heavenly maidens, though ambrosia exists among the immortals, delight in the nectar of lips.

Verse 19

अन्नाद्दशगुणं पिष्टं पिष्टाद्दशगुणं पयः । पयसोऽष्टगुणं मांसां मांसाद्दशगुणं घृतम् ॥

Compared with grain, flour is tenfold; compared with flour, milk is tenfold; compared with milk, meat is eightfold; compared with meat, ghee is tenfold.

Verse 20

शोकेन रोगा वर्धन्ते पयसा वर्धते तनुः । घृतेन वर्धते वीर्यं मांसान्मांसं प्रवर्धते ॥

Grief makes diseases grow; milk makes the body grow. Ghee increases vigor; meat increases flesh.