Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by Bhartrihari (Hindu Philosopher, Grammarian)

Bhartṛhari (c.570–c.651 CE) was an ancient Indian Hindu philosopher, poet-grammarian. Considered one of the most original philosophers of language and religion in ancient India, he wrote the Vākyapadīya, a foundational text in the Indian grammatical tradition, and the Śatakatraya, a work of Sanskrit poetry.

Born of noble birth in Ujjain, Malwa, now a city in Madhya Pradesh state, Bhartṛhari was attached for a while to the court of the Maitraka dynasty.

Bhartṛhari’s Vākyapadīya (“Words in a Sentence”) is a treatise on the philosophy of language according to the śabdādvaita (“word nondualism”) school of Indian philosophy. The Vākyapadīya is distinguished for Bhartṛhari’s holistic view of language, especially regarding the connections that language posits between grammar, logic, semantics, and ontology.

Bhartṛhari’s poetry in Śatakatraya (“the three śatakas” or “the three hundreds”) is aphoristic and comprises explanations on the social mores of the time. Śatakatraya consists of three thematic compilations of hundred verses each: the Śṛṅgāraḥ (love)-Śataka, Niti (ethics, moral conduct, and polity)-Śataka, and Vairāgya (dispassion)-Śataka.

The Mahābhāṣyadīpikā, an early sub-commentary on Patañjali’s Vyākaraṇa-Mahābhāṣya, is also attributed to Bhartṛhari.

More: Wikipedia READ: Works by Bhartrihari

The Creator has provided a means for hiding one’s ignorance.
It is to keep silent, particularly in the company of the learned.
Bhartrihari

Let us keep a firm grip upon our money, for without it the whole assembly of virtues are but as blades of grass.
Bhartrihari
Topics: Money

When water is mixed with milk,
the milk gives water all of its own qualities.
Seeing the milk suffer (being heated),
the water sacrifices itself (begins to get evaporated).
Seeing its friend’s distress, the milk gets ready to take on the fire
(begins to overflow with effervescence).
When reunited with water (i.e. water is sprinkled on it),
it calms down. Such is the friendship between good people.
Bhartrihari

In this transitory world, who is unborn or immortal? Only the person by whose birth the family prospers can be said to have been “born”.
Bhartrihari

Man is born in the world with a lifespan of a hundred years, more or less, and he spends half the time sleeping. The half of the remaining years is spent in infancy and dotage. The remaining twenty-five are spent in suffering from various diseases, in lamenting and grieving over a series of bereavements caused by the death of offspring and other relatives, in working hard day and night at the household of the rich to scrape a living. Living, as he must, a life so full of turbulence and wave-like unsteadiness, when does man find time to experience true happiness?
Bhartrihari

When my knowledge was limited, I assumed that I was fully proficient.
I was blinded by pride like an elephant in frenzy. However,
when I started learning in the company of the erudite and
realized my shortcomings, the conceit of mine disappeared like fever.
Bhartrihari

It is better to wander in the mountain caves along with the forest-dwellers than to be with conceited fools even in the mansion of the king of gods.
Bhartrihari

Those who are devoid of learning,
restraint, charity, knowledge, moral conduct,
virtue and righteousness are virtually animals
living in the human form and burdening the earth.
Bhartrihari

A well chiseled gem, a wounded victor, an elephant languid after rut, a slender river during the fall, the narrow crescent of the waning moon, a young maiden fatigued after love, and people whose wealth has dwindled because of charity – all these become more charming in their slenderness.
Bhartrihari

Knowledge is an inner treasure. It is imperceptible to a thief; it provides enduring happiness; it grows ceaselessly while being imparted to earnest disciples, and it is not destroyed even with the passing of an era. O kings, give up your pride in the presence of those who have this treasure; who indeed can compete with them?
Bhartrihari

Wicked people decry a modest person as dull, a person observing religious vows as showy, a holy person as a charlatan, a brave one as cruel, a hermit as foolish, a soft-spoken person as meek, a bright one as vain, an orator as a glib-talker and a patient person as weak. Is there any quality of the virtuous that the wicked do not condemn?
Bhartrihari

A fool can be pleased easily, and it is even easier to please the wise. But even the creator cannot satisfy a conceited person with a bit of knowledge.
Bhartrihari

When people have nothing, all they want is a handful of grains.
When they become wealthy, they treat the world like a straw.
Material objects by themselves are not great or worthless.
It is the fluctuating fortune of people that makes things appear big or small.
Bhartrihari

Knowledge is certainly our greatest beauty. It is a safe and hidden treasure. It provides prosperity, fame and happiness. Knowledge is the guru of all gurus. It acts as our friend in a foreign country. Knowledge is the Supreme God. It is knowledge, not wealth, which is adored by kings. Without knowledge one remains an animal.
Bhartrihari

Whether you fill a pitcher in the well or in the ocean,
it can only hold water according to its capacity.
Bhartrihari

Laziness is the great enemy within. There is no friend like dynamism, having whom no person suffers.
Bhartrihari

It is wise to keep a wicked person at arm’s length even if he or she is full of knowledge. Isn’t a snake dreadful even though it is crowned with a jewel?
Bhartrihari

The difficulties faced by good people are almost always
temporary: a ball bounces back even when it is thrown down.
Bhartrihari

A person can be made beautiful neither with bracelets, nor garlands shining like the moon, nor through bathing, nor anointment of the body, nor flowers, nor decorated hair. It is cultured speech alone that makes a person beautiful. All other ornaments lose their glitter; speech alone is an indestructible ornament.
Bhartrihari

Sages are those who teach their students with
words refined through the study of the scriptures.
If these eminent ones live in poverty,
it only shows the folly of the ruler of that kingdom,
for the sages remain great even without riches.
The real worth of a gem does not decline
because of bad evaluation by an incompetent jeweler.
Bhartrihari

A fire can be extinguished with water; an umbrella protects one from the heat of the sun; a frenzied elephant can be tamed by a mahout’s sharp iron-goad, and so can a cow and a donkey with a stick; diseases can be cured by an assortment of medicines, and the incantation of various mantras is an antidote to toxicants. The scriptures contain remedies for all, but there is none for a conceited fool.
Bhartrihari

To be judicious and amicable,
to desist from committing evil even in the face of death,
to refrain from soliciting favors from the wicked,
to avoid asking for help from a destitute friend,
to remain steadfast in adversity and to follow
the footsteps of the great ones-
who taught good people these rules which is
as difficult as ‘walking on the edge of a sword’?
Bhartrihari

The lion is the foremost among those with self-respect
and is accustomed to devouring the flesh by tearing to
pieces the temples of wild elephants. Will such a lion ever
eat grass even though suffering from pangs of hunger,
emaciated by aging, weary, living in a distressful
condition, and having lost all his vigor?
Bhartrihari

Even the cub of a lion attacks a frenzied elephant. Valor is inherent in the nature of the powerful, and age is of no consequence to their prowess.
Bhartrihari

Trees bend when fruits arrive;
clouds float low and wide when filled with
fresh water; good people remain humble even in
prosperity. Such indeed is the nature of those who help others.
Bhartrihari

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