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Spartan Surfers

c. 12th century

Hitopadesha

Sanskrit book of animal fables and verse maxims compiled by Narayana to teach young princes practical wisdom. Much of it draws on the older Panchatantra.

5 sourced lines

Every line we carry

Each one links to its source, what it means, and the shirt in any of our looks.

  1. To the great-hearted, the whole earth is one family.

    'This one is mine, that one a stranger' is the arithmetic of small minds, the verse says; for the generous, the world itself is family. The phrase vasudhaiva kutumbakam is one of the best-known lines in Sanskrit. Widen the circle of people you count as yours and you widen yourself.

    Hitopadesha 1.71, our translation from the Sanskrit

  2. Knowledge without action is a burden.

    The verse says that for people who cannot govern their senses, rituals are like an elephant's bath, which it promptly undoes by rolling in dust. And knowledge without action is dead weight, like jewelry on someone with no one to wear it for. What you know only becomes yours when you live it.

    Hitopadesha 1.18, our translation from the Sanskrit

  3. Sweet to your face, ruinous behind your back: poison topped with milk.

    Avoid the friend who speaks sweetly in front of you and ruins your affairs when you are not looking. The Hitopadesha pictures him as a jar of poison with a layer of milk on top. Judge friends by what happens in rooms you are not in.

    Hitopadesha 1.78, our translation from the Sanskrit

  4. No one is born your friend or your enemy. Dealings make both.

    Friendship and enmity are not fixed at birth, the verse says; they are made by how people treat each other. That cuts both ways. Your enemies are not permanent, and neither are your friends if you stop treating them well.

    Hitopadesha 1.72, our translation from the Sanskrit

  5. Every meeting ends in parting. Everything born will break.

    The body is always near its end, wealth is the doorstep of trouble, meetings carry their partings inside them, and whatever comes into being breaks. The Hitopadesha says this plainly, not to depress but to steady. Hold people and things knowing they are temporary, and you will hold them more tenderly.

    Hitopadesha 1.197, our translation from the Sanskrit