Our life is like th’ unstable wave, Our bloom of youth decays. Our joys are brief as lightning flash In summer’s cloudy days, Our riches fleet as swift as thought; Faith in the One Supreme Alone will bear us o’er the gulfs Of Being’s stormy stream.
BHARTRHARIThree courses open lie to wealth, to give, enjoy, or lose, Who shrinketh from the former two, perforce the third doth choose.
More Bhartrhari Quotes
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Fate’s sentence written on the brow no hand can e’er efface.
BHARTRHARI -
Kindness can turn the bad man’s heart, and fools convert to wise, Make poison into nectar-juice, and friends of enemies.
BHARTRHARI -
Knowledge is wonderful and truth serene But man in their service bleeds.
BHARTRHARI -
Those from whom we were born have long since departed, and those with whom we grew up exist only in memory. We, too, through the approach of death, become, as it were, trees growing on the sandy bank of a river.
BHARTRHARI -
For a moment man is a boy, for a moment a lovesick youth, for a moment bereft of wealth, for a moment in the height of prosperity; then at life’s end with limbs worn out by old age and wrinkles adorning his face, like an actor he retires behind the curtain of death.
BHARTRHARI -
A good man may fall, but he falls like a ball [and rebounds]; the ignoble man falls like a lump of clay.
BHARTRHARI -
Neither rings, bright chains, nor bracelets, perfumes, flowers, nor well-trimmed hair, Grace a man like polished language, th’ only jewel he should wear.
BHARTRHARI -
What is the most profitable? Fellowship with the good. What is the worst thing in the world? The society of evil men. What is the greatest loss? Failure in ones duty.
BHARTRHARI -
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 -
Where is the greatest peace? In truth and righteousness. Who is the hero? The man who subdues his senses. Who is the best beloved? The faithful wife. What is wealth? Knowledge. What is the most perfect happiness? Staying at home.
BHARTRHARI -
There is no medicine to cure a fool!
BHARTRHARI -
I’ve wandered over many lands, and reaped withal no fruit, I’ve laid my pride of rank aside, and pressed my baffled suit, At stranger boards, like shameless crow, I’ve eaten bitter bread, But fierce Desire, that raging fire, still clamours to be fed.
BHARTRHARI -
Idleness is a great enemy to mankind. There is no friend like energy, for, if you cultivate that, it will never fail.
BHARTRHARI -
Even the severed branch grows again, and the sunken moon returns: wise men who ponder this are not troubled in adversity.
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Trees bend low with ripened fruit; clouds hang down with gentle rain; noble people bow graciously. This is the way of generous things.
BHARTRHARI