Great Throughts Treasury

"Truth all religion comprehends, in truth alone is justice placed, in truth the words of God are based."

"A person gives hope to another who requests for money or other material thing or to one who had helped that person in the past. Having given them hope, if that person disappoints them by not keeping his promise, then he is the worst kind of person in this world."

"Anger is the enemy which takes one’s life. Anger is enemy with the face of a friend. Anger is like a very sharp sword. Anger destroys everything."

"A wise man should foresee tragedy or misfortune and take action to prevent or overcome such tragedy or misfortune well before it strikes. Thus only he can enjoy a safe and good life."

"Dharma is so called because it sustains or supports society (from the root dhri meaning to support). The people of a country are held together and sustained by Dharma."

"Beauty may leave the moon, Himavaan may become bereft of snow, the ocean may transgress its shores but I will never violate the promise given by my father."

"A Veena cannot exist without its strings. A chariot cannot exist without its wheels. Without her husband a woman can never live happily even though she has a hundred sons."

"Grief destroys one’s courage. It destroys one’s learning. It destroys one’s everything. There is no enemy greater than grief."

"Enthusiasm has great strength. There is no greater strength than enthusiasm. There is nothing which is not attainable in this world for the enthusiastic."

"If a person is gifting away his elephant but his heart is set on the rope used for tying the elephant, of what use is his attachment to the rope when he is giving away the elephant itself."

"I know the nature of one’s relatives. Relatives always rejoice when their relatives are in trouble. Just like drops of water on lotus leaves do not stick to the leaves, in the same way is the friendship with people who lack character."

"It is difficult for the children to repay the debt of what the mother and the father have done to bring them up."

"Just as people are afraid of serpents they are afraid of persons who utter lies."

"Not getting dejected or depressed, skill in doing one’s job and not losing heart in the face of difficulties – these are the qualities which enable one to achieve one’s goals."

"Not getting depressed, frustrated or dejected is the basis for all prosperity and happiness. Giving up one’s life produces nothing good, to continue to live is the way to joy and happiness."

"One should lift only such weight as will not exhaust one beyond a limit. One should eat only such food as will easily digest. Who will engage himself in such action as will get him neither dharma nor reputation nor lasting fame and which will only result in physical exhaustion?"

"One may have wives and relatives in every country but one cannot have a brother like Lakshmana in every place."

"Once Rama gives his word, that is final and it is kept at any cost. There is no question of repetition of the same a second time."

"One should not let one’s mind to be overcome by melancholy. Melancholy or moroseness is a very bad thing. It kills (destroys) a man just as an angered serpent kills a child."

"One who is angry does not distinguish between what can be spoken and what is unspeakable. There is nothing which an angry man cannot do meaning he can commit any crime. There is nothing unspeakable for him. Fire cannot act on fire."

"One who is bent on courting his death will not take kindly to sage counsel given by his well-wishers"

"One’s elder brother, father and the teacher who gives knowledge - all these three, treading the path of dharma, are to be considered as one’s father."

"One’s innermost thoughts and emotions reflect on one’s physical appearance which it is difficult to cover up however one may try to do it. Such changes in one’s physical appearance forcefully expose such innermost emotions and thoughts."

"The strong of heart do not become angry."

"The tears of virtuous women (pativratas) do not fall on the ground in vain, meaning it will destroy those who caused them such anguish of heart causing tears to be shed."

"One who is haughty, who does not know whether what he does is right or wrong and who has taken to the wrong path is to be disciplined even if he is guru, parent or an elder in age or learning."

"Only a person’s conduct and character proclaim whether he is born in a good family or whether he is boasting about himself or whether he is unblemished (shuchih) or blemished (ashuchih)."

"Only the timid and the weak leave things to destiny (daivam) but the strong and the self-confident never bank on destiny or luck (bhagya)"

"Stealing the wealth of others, coveting another man’s wife and doubting the integrity and character of friends - these three lead to one’s destruction."

"People will kill, as they kill a poisonous snake, a cruel and ferocious person whose actions are against the people and hurt them. Those cruel persons who, by their sinful actions, inflict physical and mental injury on others are detested by people. Though such people may amass immense wealth they cannot retain it for long. They will perish like a tree whose roots have become decayed. In this world, one will, before long, suffer the consequences of one’s sinful actions in the same way as poisonous food taken by a person kills him within a short time."

"The efforts of one who is unenthusiastic, weak and immersed in sorrow cannot bring out any good and he comes to grief."

"The one who abandons one’s own camp and joins the enemy’s camp will be killed by the very men of his former camp after the latter camp is completely destroyed by the former."

"The saying “If one continues to live, happiness and bliss may come even after a gap of a hundred years” seems to me an auspicious one."

"Those who have knowledge of dharma say that Truth is the highest dharma"

"To be happy always is something which is difficult to achieve. That is to say, happiness and sorrow alternate in one’s life and there cannot be uninterrupted happiness alone."

"To be compassionate, kind, merciful and humane is a great virtue."

"The thundering of clouds which have spent all their water does not produce any rain. But the really valiant do not roar in vain; they show their valor in action also."

"There is no greater sin than coveting another man’s wife."

"There is atonement, laid down by men of character, for one who kills a cow, consumes intoxicating drinks, steals or breaks one’s promise but there is no atonement for one who is ungrateful."

"Those who always adhere to truth do not make false promises. Keeping one’s promises is, surely, the mark of one’s greatness."

"To be under the control of another is to be condemned; it is the worst thing that can befall a person. Love and affection is possible only when a person is being seen and is not out of sight in a faraway place."

"Truth controls this world and dharma is rooted in truth."

"To err is human, there is none who has not erred some time or other."

"Wealth springs from dharma, from dharma comes happiness and one gets everything from dharma. Dharma is the essence of this world. Dharma, which is the source of all happiness, can be attained even by a skilled person, only after observing various disciplines for his own purification and after great effort subjecting himself to great strain and stress. One cannot attain such dharma by leading a life given to the pleasures of the senses."

"Whether in sorrow or in happiness a friend is always a friend’s support."

"Whatever is one’s food, the same food shall be offered to one’s gods."

"Words of conciliation to the rakshasas will not bring out any good (Soft words will not have any effect on a rakshasa). In the same way one cannot pacify an immensly wealthy person by offering him material things."

"Wise men say that the root of victory is consultation and discussion with learned and wise men. ."

"You cannot count on the physical proximity of someone you love, all the time. A seed that sprouts at the foot of its parent tree remains stunted until it is transplanted. Rama will be in my care, and he will be quite well. But ultimately, he will leave me too. Every human being, when the time comes, has to depart to seek his fulfillment in his own way."