Niti-sataka of Bhartri Hari: Part I "The Fool"

This is the first of three centuries, or works of a hundred verses each, written by the very influential Sanskrit poet Bhartrihari. Many legends are told of this Bhartrihari and perhaps I will later recount some of them. His style of writing subhāṣitas, or "well-turned verses," have affected many poets throughout the history of Sanskrit literature, including most notably for Gaudiya Vaishnavas, Prabodhananda Saraswati. Bhartihari’s three śatakas have the themes of nīti (moral philosophy), śṛṅgāra (love) and vairāgya (renunciation).

I translated these many years ago, but I never posted them on this blog, though I did post them on-line a few years ago and reposted on Speaking Tree in 2012). I have made a few changes.

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The first theme of the Nīti-satakam is “the fool.”

dik-kālādy-anavacchinnānanta-cin-mātra-mūrtaye |

svānubhūty-eka-mānāya namaḥ śāntāya tejase || 1 ||

I bow down to the Supreme Lord

whose form is infinite and spiritual,

unrestricted by time and space,

who can only be measured by subjective perception,

who is peaceful, who is all-powerful.

boddhāro matsara-grastāḥ

prabhavaḥ smaya-dūṣitāḥ |

abodhopahatāś cānye

jīrṇam aṅge subhāṣitam || 2 ||

The learned are envious,

the powerful are contaminated by pride,

and others are afflicted by ignorance—

so my wise sayings have grown old in my mouth.

ajñaḥ sukham ārādhyaḥ

sukhataram ārādhyate viśeṣajñaḥ |

jñāna-lava-durvidagdhaṁ

brahmāpi taṁ naraṁ na rañjayati || 3 ||

The ignorant are easy to please,

it is even easier to please the cultured;

but even Brahma himself could not satisfy

someone who is puffed up with a little knowledge.

Jñāna-lava-durvidagdha has entered the Sanskrit language as an epithet of the fool.

prasahya maṇim uddharen makara-vaktra-daṁṣṭrāntarāt

samudram api santaret pracalad-ūrmi-mālākulam |

bhujaṅgam api kopitaṁ śirasi puṣpavad dhārayet

na tu pratiniviṣṭa-mūṛkha-jana-cittam ārādhayet || 4 ||

You may be able to forcibly pluck a jewel

from the tooth-filled mouth of a crocodile;

you may swim across the stormy ocean

or you may be able to carry a cobra

like a flower garland on your head--

but never, ever, will you be able to satisfy

the mind of the obstinate fool.

labheta sikatāsu tailam api yatnataḥ pīḍayan

pibec ca mṛga-tṛṣṇikāsu salilaṁ pipāsārditaḥ |

kvacid api paryaṭan śaśa-viṣāṇam āsādayet

na tu pratiniviṣṭa-mūrkha-cittam ārādhayet || 5 ||

You may be able to extract oil

by carefully pressing the sand;

in your thirst, you may be able to drink

water from a mirage;

you may even be able to wander through the world

until you find a horned rabbit,

but never, ever, will you be able to satisfy

the mind of the obstinate fool.

vyālaṁ bāla-mṛṇāla-tantubhir asau roddhuṁ samujjṛmbhate

chettuṁ vajra-maṇiṁ śirīṣa-kusuma-prāntena sannahyati |

mādhuryaṁ madhu-bindunā racayituṁ kṣārāmudher īhate

netuṁ vāñchanti yaḥ khalān pathi satāṁ sūktaiḥ sudhā-syandibhiḥ || 6 ||

You may try to secure an intoxicated elephant

with ropes made from the stems of young lotus;

or you may try to cut a diamond

with the petals of a sirisha flower;

you may even hope to sweeten the salty ocean

with a mere drop of honey;

but do you think you can bring a scoundrel

to the path of righteousness with a few wise sayings, 

even if they should ooze ambrosia?

svāyattam ekānta-guṇaṁ vidhātrā

vinirmitaṁ chādanam ajñatāyāḥ |

viśeṣāataḥ sarva-vidāṁ samāje

vibhūṣaṇaṁ maunam apaṇḍitānām || 7 ||

The creator has given a unique quality

by which one can hide his ignorance,

especially when in the company of the learned:

silence is the ornament of the uneducated.

The last line of this verse vibhūṣaṇaṁ maunam apaṇḍitānām is also well known as a popular maxim.

yadā kiñcij-jño'haṁ dvipa iva madāndhaḥ samabhavaṁ

tadā sarvajño'smīty abhavad avaliptaṁ mama manaḥ

yadā kiñcit kiñcid budhajana-sakāśād avagataṁ

tadā mūrkho'smīti jvara iva mado me vyapagataḥ ||8||

When I had just a little knowledge,

I became intoxicated like an elephant;

my mind became quite contaminated

thinking I knew everything.

But when I had the fortune

to associate with learned people,

I found out that I was a fool.

From that moment, my intoxication

disappeared like a bad fever.

kṛmi-kula-cittaṁ lālā-klinnaṁ vigandhi-jugupsitaṁ

nirupama-rasaṁ prītyā khādan narāsthi nirāmiṣam |

surapatim api śvā pārśvasthaṁ vilokya na śaṅkate

na hi gaṇayati kṣudro jantuḥ parigraha-phalgutām || 9 ||

A dog gnaws with relish at a human bone

that is infested with worms,

is soaked in his saliva,

emits a disgusting smell,

has an incomparably evil flavor,

and does not even have any meat on it.

And he has no doubts about his pleasure,

even should he see the god of heaven beside him.

This is how an insignificant creature

ignores the pettiness of his obsessions.

śiraḥ śārvaṁ svargāt paśupati-śirastaḥ kṣitidharaṁ

mihīdhrād uttuṅgād avanim avaneś cāpi jaladhim |

adho’dho gaṅgeyaṁ padam upagatā stokam athavā

viveka-bhraṣṭānāṁ bhavati vinipātaḥ śatamukhaḥ || 10 ||

The Ganges falls from heaven onto Shiva’s head,

from Shiva’s head it falls onto the Himalayas;

from the mountains it descends to the plains,

and from there it flows to the ocean.

As it descends to ever more trivial destination,

so it is, in a hundred different ways,

do those who have lost their discrimination

fall ever further to their ruin.

In the first stage of one's ruin one thinks oneself a god.

śakyo vārayituṁ jalena hutabhuk cchatreṇa sūryātapo

nāgendro niśitāṅkuśena samado daṇḍena go-gardabhau |

vyādhir bheṣaja-saṅgrahaiś ca vividhair mantra-prayogair viṣaṁ

sarvasyauṣadham asti śāstra-vihitaṁ mūrkhasya nasty auṣadhim || 11 ||

You can extinguish a fire with water,

you can avoid the scorching sun with a parasol;

you can overcome a cobra with a sharp stick

and cows or donkeys with a staff;

you can cure a disease with the appropriate herbs and medicines,

and snakebite with spells and mantras;

indeed the scriptures provide a way of counteracting every problem,

but there is no cure for stupidity.

The last line, mūrkhasya nasty auṣadhim, is another popular maxim. In English also. Now you can say it in Sanskrit.

sāhitya-saṅgīta-kalā-vihīnaḥ

sākṣāt paśuḥ puccha-viṣāṇa-hīnaḥ |

tṛṇaṁ na khādann api jīvamānas

tad bhāga-dheyaṁ paramaṁ paśūnām || 12 ||

A human being with no culture,

without learning in literature, music or the arts,

is nothing more than an animal without a tail or horns.

Though he may live by eating other things than grass,

his destiny is exactly that of the beasts.

yeṣāṁ na vidyā na tapo na dānaṁ

jñānaṁ na śīlaṁ na guṇo na dharmaḥ |

te martya-loke bhuvi bhāra-bhūtā

manuṣya-rūpeṇa mṛgāś caranti || 13 ||

Those who have no learning,

no self-control, no sense of charity,

no wisdom, no character, no virtue and no sense of duty,

are the burden of the world.

Though they have human form, they are animals.

varaṁ parvata-durgeṣu

bhrāntaṁ vanacaraiḥ saha

na mūrkha-jana-samparkaḥ

surendra-bhavaneṣv api || 14 ||

I would rather wander, lost in the mountains

and surrounded by wild animals

than have the association of fools

in the mansions of heaven.

śāstropaskṛta-śabda-sundara-giraḥ śiṣya-pradeyāgamā

vikhyātāḥ kavayo vasanti viṣaye yasya prabhor nirdhanāḥ |

taj-jāḍyaṁ vasudhādipasya kavayas tv arthaṁ vināpīśvarāḥ

kutsyāḥ syuḥ kuparīkṣakā hi maṇayo yair arghataḥ pātitāḥ || 15 ||

If the learned people have earned a reputation
because their language has been transformed
and made beautiful by the study of scripture
and in turn teach to their own students,
are poor in a certain kingdom,

then the ruler of that land is a fool,
like a dealer in jewels who fails to recognize their value
and sells them for less than they are worth.