Vidusaka in Sanskrit drama

Post No. 1052; Dated 19th May 2014
(First part was posted yesterday 18th May 2014.)

DHARMA
76.Dharma is the foundation of universe.
77.Who in this world can ultimately survive his own misdeeds?
78.A deed of shame destroys one’s hard earned reputation as a forest fire does an ancient forest.
79.As fire dies out for lack of fuel, so does charity for lack of means.
80.Only a fool prays for hereditary poverty.

SERVICE
81.A good man considers his body as given to him for service to others (Paropakaram Idam Sariram).
82. A generous man is like a banyan tree or papal tree which harbours all the birds of the air, and animals and even reptiles.

BELLY
83.Many a man becomes criminal to fill his belly.
84.We do many things only for the sake of the belly.
85.This one span belly controls the other seven spans of our body.
86.The belly adjusts itself according the means of its owner.
87.An overfilled belly, rolling like a cuckoo’s eye, is generally filled by others.

Picture shows man with a big belly

PROSPERITY
88.In prosperity people invite us; in adversity we invite ourselves.
89.When a rich man becomes poor, his light is put out; when a poor man become’s rich, the darkness of his life is relieved by light.
90.A poor man is like a dried up well, a tree struck by lightning, aruined house, a walking corpse.
91.A poor man’s kindness and magnanimity pass unnoticed. His friends leave him without any fault of his. People attribute to him the crimes and evil deeds of others.
92. A rich man becoming poor by his charity deserves honour like a tank by becoming empty by irrigating fields and by slaking men’s thirsts.
93.We esteem or hate as our interests dictate.

SICKMAN & MEDICINE
94.Which sick man will reject a sure remedy for his disease, in whatever system of medicine or incantation it is found?
95.As our strength decreases, the strength of disease and old age increases.
96.The consumptives spit out phlegm as trees drop dry leaves in autumn.
97.Taking care of the ward is the most difficult of things.
98.Sleep creeps over us unconsciously, like old age, and is on us before we are aware of it.
99.A man who pretends sleep cannot face a powerful light.

SAGES & HERMITAGE
100.A hermitage is like one’s own house to everyone.
101.Breaking into a stranger’s house at night is a risky thing.
102.A man understands his own thoughts first; others only next.
103.Sages retire to the forest to avoid the noise and bustle of the towns.
104.Imitate a tortoise withdrawing its limbs into its shell by withdrawing your senses into the mind.
105.A sage should be learned but not pedantic, dignified but not aloof, charming but not conscious of his charm, piercing but not polite, calm and collected and easy to please. He should readily forget injuries done to him, but should remember for all his life the smallest benefit.

ASTROLOGY
106.Astrologers predict by looking at one star, forgetting the rest. They predict events of this world by looking at the other world. What wonder if they go wrong?
107.People are afraid of the unknown.

A scene from a Sanskrit play

FATE
108.Men cannot defeat fate, be he ever so vigilant.
109.Most things attributed to fate can be conquered by rightly-directed efforts. Even a rock can be made to yields water and a barren field beautiful crops.

HEAVEN & HELL
110.Heaven is not a distant world; it is here, in this world, for us to make good by work for universal welfare. Hell is not a distant world; it is here, in this world, if we do not make good by work for universal welfare.

LEADERSHIP

111.Leadership is acquired by half by hereditary talents and half by effort, and half by fate.
112.Hard words break no bones.

TRAINING
113.Even elephants and horses get their full skill and speed only by training. How much more so man?
114.Break bad news gently.

Vasantasena in Charudatta drama

GOOD & BAD PEOPLE
115.Don’t grind what is already ground.
116.Discharge your duties as if death comes tomorrow.
117.Life is sapless without good health, good food and affectionate relatives and friends.
118.Leave a difficult task to an honest expert.
119.Politicians bow to each other insincerely like peacocks.
120.The bricks fall from a decaying wall and power from nerveless fingers.
121.The most precious possession of a man is happy and contented mind.
122.Great ones shower favour on the needy without counting them.
123.Men of the frontier tracts are troublesome, turbulent and lawless and change their sovereigns according to convenience.

MOTHER EARTH & NATURE
124.Mother Earth protects those who protect her children.
125.How infinitely beautiful is the world! The beauty of the sunset, the moon and the star-vaulted sky is spiritual and ennobles us.
126.Give like the sun and rain, without expecting anything in return.

Picture of a Banyan Tree.
TREES
127.The trees we plant soon outgrow us.
128.The twilight is the Siva in his Ardhanareeswara form (half man, half woman) half day, half night.
129.If you cut the trunk, the branches will fall off by themselves.
130.If you cut all the branches of a tree, you cannot expect it to give you shade from the heat of the sun.
131.Some men make the forest as noisy as a city by their presence.
132.A sandal wood tree is as rare among trees as a good man among men.
133.Trees are beautiful and flowers even more so; but the fruits are more useful.
Source: Bhasa – A study by A D Pusalker and Bhasa by A S Panchapakesa Ayyar, Madras, 1957

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