Post No. 1012; Date: 30th April 2014

Prepared by London swaminathan (copyright)

31 important Quotes from Hitopadesa, A Sanskrit work of fables, are given in this month’s calendar:

Important Dates: May 2 Friday- Akshaya Truthiyai; 4 Sunday –Shankara Jayanthy; 14 Wednesday- Buddha Purnima; 10 to 14: Madurai Chitra Festival. Auspicious Days: 5, 11, 25.
Full Moon day 14th May; New Moon (Amavasya) 28th May;
Ekadasi 10 & 24

May 1 Thursday
The wise spend their time diverting themselves with poetry and learned treatises, while fools succumb to vice, sleep and quarrels (1-1)

May 2 Friday
A man will not prosper if he takes no risks. But if he does take a risk, and survives, he will prosper (1-15)

May 3 Saturday
Ritual offerings, the study of the Vedas, alms giving and asceticism, truthfulness, patience, forgiveness and lack of greed – this is known as the eight fold path of righteousness (1-24)

May 4 Sunday
It is a wise man who regards the wife of another man as his own mother, the wealth of others as a clod of earth, and all creatures as himself 1-30

May 5 Monday
A gift ought to be given in a generous spirit to someone unable to repay it, at the right place and time, and to a man of merit – that is the best kind of charity 1 -35

May 6 Tuesday
The actions of people with uncontrolled minds and senses are as useless as bathing an elephant. But knowledge without action is just a burden, like jewellery on an ugly woman 1-40

May 7 Wednesday
One should never trust rivers, men holding weapons, beasts with claws or horns, women and royal families 1-45

May 8 Thursday
Well digested food, a well-educated son, a well-controlled wife, a well-served king, speaking after thinking and acting after reflecting –these things never cause harm, not even in the long run 1-50

May 9 Friday
He who is envious, he who criticizes everything, he who is never satisfied, the angry man and the ever fearful, and he who lives on someone else’s fortune – these six have a miserable fate 1-59

May 10 Saturday
A golden deer cannot exist – yet Rama coveted such a deer. People’s judgement generally turns faulty under the threat of a great calamity 1- 60

May 11 Sunday
One should never lead a crowd, since all shares equally in its success; but in the event of failure, it is the leader who is killed 1-69

May 12 Monday
A friend is someone who can save the unfortunate in an emergency, not some pundit who criticizes things done badly or left undone 1-70

May 13 Tuesday
Courage in calamity, patience in prosperity, eloquence in assembly, valour in battle, delight in glory, diligence in one’s studies – these are naturally present in eminent people 1-73

May 14 Wednesday
A man who wants to prosper in this world should avoid six faults: drowsiness, exhaustion, fear, anger, laziness and procrastination 1-75

May 15 Thursday
Even the weak can succeed if they unite; if you tie blades of grass together to form a rope they can tether an elephant in rut. Solidarity with his own people is best for a man 1-78

May 16 Friday
One’s mother, father, true friend – these three are naturally good to us. Others may be well-disposed towards us because they have some cause or reason to be so inclined 1- 83

May 17 Saturday
No one in the world is more fortunate than the person who can talk to his friend, stay with his friend, chat with his friend 1- 86

May 18 Sunday
For whatever reason , by whatever means, in whatever manner, of whatever kind, to whatever extent, whenever and wherever one performs a good or bad act, one bears its consequences accordingly, under the sway of fate. Disease, grief, pain, captivity, and calamity – these are the fruits growing on the tree of men’s own offences 1-90

May 19 Monday
A wise man should give up his wealth and life for another’s sake. It is better to sacrifice them for a good cause, since their destruction is inevitable anyway 1-99

May 20 Tuesday
If immaculate and eternal fame can be attained with a perishable, tainted body, then what else could not be attained? 1- 106

May 21 Wednesday
One should never invite home someone whose family and nature are unknown 1- 134

May 22 Thursday
Even if one’s enemy pays a visit, he should be hospitably received. A tree does not withdraw its shade even from the person felling it 1 -149

May 23 Friday
A straw mat and a place to sit down, water and, fourthly, kind words – these are never refused in the house of the good 1 -151

May 24 Saturday
Good people pity all creatures, even those without virtues. Indeed the moon does not withhold its light even from an outcast’s hut 1-154

May 25 Sunday
Men who refrain from all forms of violence, who can endure anything, and to whom anybody can turn for help – such men go to heaven 1 -162

May 26 Monday
Where nobody is learned, even a half wit can be praised 1- 173

May 27 Tuesday
‘This is mine, but that belongs to someone else’ – only the small minded argue this way; but those who act nobly consider the whole world to be their family 1- 174

May 28 Wednesday
Nobody is a friend of anybody; nobody is an enemy of anybody. A friend or enemy is recognised as such by his deeds 1- 176

May 29 Thursday
One knows one’s true friends in calamitous times, heroes are known in battle, an honest man when in debt, a true wife when one’s wealth is lost and true relatives in difficult situations 1- 184

May 30 Friday
O Goddess of Earth! How can you bear on your surface those who break their promises, who harm helpful, trusting and honest people? 1-198

May 31 Saturday
Friendship with a bad person is like a clay pot – easy to break but difficult to put back together. Friendship with a good person is like a golden vase – difficult to break but easy to put back together 1-223

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We have given quotations from Bhagavad Gita in January, Buddha’s Dhammapada in February, Adi Shankara’s hymns in March and Upanishads in April calendars.