Sanskrit poet (6th or 7th century A.D.)
Cowards shrink from toil and peril,
Vulgar souls attempt and fail;
Men of mettle, nothing daunted,
Persevere till they prevail.
BHARTRHARI
"The Praise of the Wise Man"
Kindness can turn the bad man's heart, and fools convert to wise,
Make poison into nectar-juice, and friends of enemies.
BHARTRHARI
"The Praise of Works"
Three courses open lie to wealth, to give, enjoy, or lose,
Who shrinketh from the former two, perforce the third doth choose.
BHARTRHARI
"On Wealth"
Man is but a beast without it: such a glorious god is Learning.
BHARTRHARI
The Praise of the Wise Man"
It imprisons Brahmā in the universe
like a potter
in his own giant urn.
It tosses Vishnu
into the dark tangle
of his ten avatars.
Rudra it forces to beg
roaming with a skull in
his cupped palms,
and it makes Sūrya circle
the sky endlessly.
I bow my head to karma.
BHARTRHARI
The Epigrams Attributed to Bhartrihari
An ignorant man is easily pleased, learned man even easier,
but a man distorted by little knowledge, even Brahma can not please.
BHARTRHARI
"Niiti-shatakam"
Some generous souls forbear their own, and seek another's gain;
Most men, neglecting not their own, their neighbour's cause maintain;
Those are mere demons who would build their wealth on other's loss,
But what are those who profitless their neighbour's interest cross?
BHARTRHARI
"The Path of Altruism"
Let cunning statesmen praise or blame,
Let Fortune turn or go her way,
Come instant death, or lingering shame,
Firm souls from virtue will not stray.
BHARTRHARI
"The Praise of Firmness"
Like as our outworn garments we discard,
And other new ones don;
So doth the Soul these bodies doff when marred
And others new put on.
BHARTRHARI
"One Law There Is"
The sun opens the lotuses; the moon illuminates the beds of water-lilies; the cloud pours forth its water unasked: even so the liberal of their own accord are occupied in benefiting others.
BHARTRHARI
Satakatraya
When they are absent, we aspire to see them; when we have seen them, we have only one desire, that of enjoying their embrace; when we are in the arms of beautiful women with elongated eyes, we would no longer want to tear ourselves away from them.
BHARTRHARI
Moral and Religious Stanzas
Fate's sentence written on the brow no hand can e'er efface.
BHARTRHARI
"The Praise of Destiny"
Our mind is but a lump of clay
That Fate, grim potter, holds
On sorrow's wheel that rolls away,
And, as he pleases, moulds.
BHARTRHARI
"On Time the Destroyer"
The moth unwitting rushes on the fire,
Through ignorance the fish devours the bait,
We men know well the foes that lie in wait,
Yet cannot shun the meshes of desire.
BHARTRHARI
"Against the Love of Beauty"
Life is flowing away like water running out from a leaky vessel.
BHARTRHARI
Satakatraya
In opulence the heart of great men is as soft as that of a lotus flower, but in adversity the same hardens like a rock of a big mountain.
BHARTRHARI
Satakatraya
Honour the worthy, love thy foes,
Hide thy own virtues, cheer the faint,
Pursue renown till life doth close,
Such conduct marks the perfect saint.
BHARTRHARI
"The Path of Altruism"
Apathy is ascribed to the modest man,
Fraud to the devout,
Hypocrisy to the pure,
Cruelty to the hero,
Hostility to the anchorite,
Fawning to the courteous man,
Arrogance to the majestic,
Garrulity to the eloquent,
Impotence to the faithful.
Does there exist any virtue
Which escapes
The slander of wicked men?
BHARTRHARI
"Apathy Is Ascribed to the Modest Man"
We become decrepit with age, but not so Desire.
Infirmity assails us, the skin wrinkles,
The hair whitens, the body becomes crooked,
Old age comes on.
Desire alone grows younger every day.
BHARTRHARI
"Verses on Renunciation"