Bharthruhari is believed to be a king disillusioned with
love who abdicated his throne to his younger brother Vikramaditya! He was a
Sanskrit author and poet. He is said to have written “ Vakyapadiya” a text
on Sanskrit grammar.He was born in
Ujjain to one Chandrasana. He was very popular in medieval times when society
was impressed with sensual traditions, monastic principles of Vedanta and the acharyas. He was a worshipper of the
formless God and believed in the powers of siddhi His disappointment in love
led him to write three types of poetry glorifying the importance of the three
aspects of life in every individual He has composed three “ satakams ( 100
stanzas) each on 1 Sringara—those with erotic and romantic temperament 2
Vairagya—those with the mood of other worldliness and dispassion and 3 Niti—related
to morality, ethics and polity. Thus we see him, at once, as a lover, sage and
king These ‘Satakams’ have become very popular and recognized as words of great
wisdom in literary circles. Hence they are called “ Subhashiitha” ---well
spoken! I give below a few of these ‘subhashitha’
stanzas for the benefit of the readers.
The poet
says that it is very difficult to satisfy the mind of a foolish or stupid
person! “we can pluck out the precious
stone from among the sharp teeth of a crocodile called Simsumara somehow or
other; we can ferry across the raging
and tempestuous ocean by some means or other; we can even mesmerize an angry, and poisonous snake and wear it as
a garland or on the head; but it is impossible to satisfy the mind of a
careless, foolish and stupid person filled with anger, by any means!”
The poet
considers the foolish and stupid person as the lowliest of all. ‘A dog happened
to possess a bone. It was dense with germs and insects and wet with the saliva
dropping from the mouth and foul in
smell; It was repulsive to the very sight; it had no muscle at all on it; the
bone was that of the lowly donkey; The
dog began eating that bone as if it was a delicacy and with great love; It
would not care , at that time, even if Devendra , king of Gods were to be
there; Low creature is interested in eating alone but does not care if the
object is edible or not!
Foolishness leads to difficulties and impediments! Wisdom and
intelligence is the need for the individual. “The terrible flow of river Ganga
fell amidst the locks of Lord Siva from the heights of heaven! Then it reached
the Himalayas and then it came to earth and the ocean and finally went down to’
pathala—the nether world! Decline to
lower positions is sure for those who have no wisdom or intelligence! Water
from the Ganges from heaven had to go down to the lower world !
There is
nothing in the world to remove the foolishness and idiocy of an individual! “ we can control fire with water, sun with an umbrella, rogue elephant with ’ankusa’, bullock and the donkey with a stick, disease and illness with medicine, japa, mantra and homas, poison with ‘mantras and
tantras’. Sasthras have prescribed remedies for all troubles by the wild animals.
But unfortunately, no Sasthra has indicated how a foolish and stupid person can
be reformed and made wise.”
It is
impossible to satisfy the mind of an arrogant and foolish individual! ‘It may
be possible to draw oil from oilless sand through some machine; we can even drink water from the illusory
mirage and satisfy our thirst; we can
also obtain the proverbial ‘ rabbit’s horn’ in the forest
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