03-01
कस्य दोषः कुले नास्ति व्याधिना को न पीडितः ।
व्यसनं केन न प्राप्तं कस्य सौख्यं निरन्तरम् ॥ ०३-०१ ॥
What family is without a fault? Who is not afflicted by disease? Who has not met with calamity? Whose happiness has been uninterrupted?
03-02
आचारः कुलमाख्याति देशमाख्याति भाषणम् ।
सम्भ्रमः स्नेहमाख्याति वपुराख्याति भोजनम् ॥ ०३-०२ ॥
Conduct proclaims a family; speech proclaims a region; cordiality proclaims affection; and the body proclaims the food one eats.
03-03
सुकुले योजयेत्कन्यां पुत्रं विद्यासु योजयेत् ।
व्यसने योजयेच्छत्रुं मित्रं धर्मेण योजयेत् ॥ ०३-०३ ॥
Bestow a daughter in a good family; engage a son in the pursuit of learning; direct an enemy towards calamity; and engage a friend in the path of righteousness.
03-04
दुर्जनस्य च सर्पस्य वरं सर्पो न दुर्जनः ।
सर्पो दंशति काले तु दुर्जनस्तु पदे पदे ॥ ०३-०४ ॥
Between a wicked man and a serpent, the serpent is the better choice; a serpent bites only at certain times, but a wicked man at every step.
03-05
एतदर्थे कुलीनानां नृपाः कुर्वन्ति सङ्ग्रहम् ।
आदिमध्यावसानेषु न ते गच्छन्ति विक्रियाम् ॥ ०३-०५ ॥
It is for this very reason that kings extend their patronage to those of noble lineage, for they do not deviate from their course in the beginning, middle, or end.
03-06
प्रलये भिन्नमर्यादा भवन्ति किल सागराः ।
सागरा भेदमिच्छन्ति प्रलयेऽपि न साधवः ॥ ०३-०६ ॥
Even the oceans, it is said, transgress their boundaries at the time of universal dissolution; but the good, even at the time of dissolution, do not wish to breach their limits.
03-07
मूर्खस्तु प्रहर्तव्यः प्रत्यक्षो द्विपदः पशुः ।
भिद्यते वाक्यशल्येन अदृशं कण्टकं यथा ॥ ०३-०७ ॥
A fool is to be directly perceived as a two-legged animal; a word-dart shatters him, as an unseen thorn does.
03-08
रूपयौवनसम्पन्ना विशालकुलसम्भवाः ।
विद्याहीना न शोभन्ते निर्गन्धाः किंशुका यथा ॥ ०३-०८ ॥
Women possessed of beauty and youth, born in vast and noble families, do not shine if they lack learning, just like the flower of the Kiṃśuka tree, which has no fragrance.
03-09
कोकिलानां स्वरो रूपं स्त्रीणां रूपं पतिव्रतम् ।
विद्या रूपं कुरूपाणां क्षमा रूपं तपस्विनाम् ॥ ०३-०९ ॥
The sweet voice is the beauty of the cuckoo; fidelity to the husband is the beauty of women; learning is the beauty of those who are physically unattractive; and patience is the beauty of ascetics.
03-10
त्यजेदेकं कुलस्यार्थे ग्रामस्यार्थे कुलं त्यजेत् ।
ग्रामं जनपदस्यार्थे आत्मार्थे पृथिवीं त्यजेत् ॥ ०३-१० ॥
For the sake of the family, a single member may be abandoned; for the sake of the village, a family may be abandoned; for the sake of the country, a village may be abandoned; and for the sake of the self, the whole earth may be abandoned.
03-11
उद्योगे नास्ति दारिद्र्यं जपतो नास्ति पातकम् ।
मौनेन कलहो नास्ति नास्ति जागरिते भयम् ॥ ०३-११ ॥
Poverty does not exist where there is industry; sin does not exist where there is constant prayer; quarrels do not exist where there is silence; and fear does not exist where there is vigilance.
03-12
अतिरूपेण वा सीता अतिगर्वेण रावणः ।
अतिदानाद्बलिर्बद्धो ह्यतिसर्वत्र वर्जयेत् ॥ ०३-१२ ॥
Through excessive beauty, Sītā was taken; through excessive arrogance, Rāvaṇa fell; through excessive charity, Bali was bound. Therefore, excess in everything should be avoided.
03-13
को हि भारः समर्थानां किं दूरं व्यवसायिनाम् ।
को विदेशः सुविद्यानां कः परः प्रियवादिनाम् ॥ ०३-१३ ॥
What indeed is a burden for those who are capable? What is distant for those who are determined? What is a foreign land for those who are well-educated? Who is a stranger for those of pleasant speech?
03-14
एकेनापि सुवृक्षेण पुष्पितेन सुगन्धिना ।
वासितं तद्वनं सर्वं सुपुत्रेण कुलं यथा ॥ ०३-१४ ॥
Just as an entire forest is perfumed by a single excellent tree that is full of blossoms and exudes sweet fragrance, so is an entire family perfumed by a single virtuous son.
03-15
एकेन शुष्कवृक्षेण दह्यमानेन वह्निना ।
दह्यते तद्वनं सर्वं कुपुत्रेण कुलं यथा ॥ ०३-१५ ॥
Just as a whole forest is burned down by a single dry tree when set ablaze by fire, so is a whole family ruined by a single bad son.
03-16
एकेनापि सुपुत्रेण विद्यायुक्तेन साधुना ।
आह्लादितं कुलं सर्वं यथा चन्द्रेण शर्वरी ॥ ०३-१६ ॥
Just as the entire night is made joyful by a single moon, so is an entire family delighted by a single excellent son, endowed with learning and righteousness.
03-17
किं जातैर्बहुभिः पुत्रैः शोकसन्तापकारकैः ।
वरमेकः कुलालम्बी यत्र विश्राम्यते कुलम् ॥ ०३-१७ ॥
What is the use of many sons who only cause sorrow and anguish? Better is the one son on whom the family leans and in whom the family finds its repose.
03-18
लालयेत्पञ्चवर्षाणि दशवर्षाणि ताडयेत् ।
प्राप्ते तु षोडशे वर्षे पुत्रे मित्रवदाचरेत् ॥ ०३-१८ ॥
Indulge a son for the first five years, chastise him for the next ten years; but when he has reached his sixteenth year, treat him as a friend.
03-19
उपसर्गेऽन्यचक्रे च दुर्भिक्षे च भयावहे ।
असाधुजनसम्पर्के यः पलायेत्स जीवति ॥ ०३-१९ ॥
In a time of national calamity, in invasion by a foreign army, in famine, and in times of terror, and when surrounded by the wicked, he who flees survives.
03-20
धर्मार्थकाममोक्षाणां यस्यैकोऽपि न विद्यते ।
अजागलस्तनस्येव तस्य जन्म निरर्थकम् ॥ ०३-२० ॥
He for whom not even one of the four aims of human life — righteousness, wealth, pleasure, and liberation — exists has a birth as useless as the teat on the neck of a goat.
03-21
मूर्खा यत्र न पूज्यन्ते धान्यं यत्र सुसञ्चितम् ।
दाम्पत्ये कलहो नास्ति तत्र श्रीः स्वयमागता ॥ ०३-२१ ॥
Where fools are not honoured, where grain is well stored, and where there is no quarrel between husband and wife, there Fortune comes of her own accord.
03-22
अयममृतनिधानं नायकोऽप्योषधीनां
अमृतमयशरीरः कान्तियुक्तोऽपि चन्द्रः ।
भवति विगतरश्मिर्मण्डलं प्राप्य भानोः
परसदननिविष्टः को लघुत्वं न याति ॥ ०३-२२ ॥
Even the moon, the lord of medicinal herbs and repository of nectar, whose body is made of immortality and who is possessed of radiance, loses his lustre when he enters the sun's disc. Who does not experience insignificance upon entering another's abode?