कृत्वा स्तम्भमेष तत्त्वनिकरे विलसामि काव्यादिषु
Jayantabhaṭṭa, in his prologue to the Nyāyamañjarī1, poses a fundamental question: how can we conjecture anything truly new? Only the presentation (prastāva) varies—the substance remains constant. This insight resonates across linguistic boundaries, where ancient wisdom descends through successive retellings, each language and genre offering fresh articulations of enduring truths.2
The Subhāṣita-Hārāvalī of
मातरः पितरश्चाऽपि बान्धवाः सुहृदोऽपरे।
न हि स्मरन्ति स्वजना यस्य दैवमदक्षिणम्॥
Be it mother or father, relatives or friends—none remember their own when fortune turns unfavorable.
This formulation echoes the Bhāgavatapurāṇa's earlier rendering, distinguished by subtle variations in scope and emphasis:
सुहृदो ज्ञातयः पुत्रा भ्रातरः पितरावपि।
नानुस्मरन्ति स्वजनं यस्य दैवमदक्षिणम्॥१०.८२.१९॥
Friends, relatives, offspring, brothers, even parents—none remember their kinsman when his fortune becomes inauspicious.
The verse resurfaces without attribution in Ajitasāgarasūri's Bhīmasenanṛpacarita and Candrarājacaritra—a common practice suggesting the verse's proverbial status.
More intriguing is its Prakrit incarnation in Jayavallabha's fourteenth-century anthology Vajjālaggaṃ (Vrajyālagnam):
नग्घंति गुणा विहडंति बंधवा वल्लहा विरज्जंति।
ववसाओ न समप्पइ नरस्स दिव्वे पराहुत्ते॥१२३
{नार्घन्ति गुणा विघटन्ते बान्धवा वल्लभा विरज्यन्ते।
व्यवसायो न समाप्यते नरस्य दैवे पराग्भूते॥}
When a person's fortune has turned away, his virtues cease to shine, relatives depart, beloved ones grow distant, and enterprises yield no returns.
Here the Prakrit expands the original Sanskrit's social observation into a comprehensive catalog of misfortune's effects.
The Śrimad Bhagavadgītā, embedded within the Bhīṣmaparva of the Mahābhārata, has generated an entire literary genus—inspiring works like the ArhadGītā, Mahāvīragītā, Prema Gītā and so on. Verse 6.30 establishes the reciprocal vision between devotee and divine:
यो मां पश्यति सर्वत्र सर्वं च मयि पश्यति।
तस्याहं न प्रणश्यामि स च मे न प्रणश्यति॥
For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me.
Dharmasenagaṇi's seventh-century Vasudevahiṃḍī (Majjhima-Khaṇḍa) transforms this theological statement into ecological ethics. Once upon a time when sages pose him with question whether vegetation possesses life, Vasudeva responds with Viṣṇu's authority, then cites:
अहं तु पिहिवीए त्था वायग्गिकाले वि य।
वणस्सइं गओ वाहं तम्हा एए ण हिंसए॥
जो मे सव्वगयं णाउं ण हिंसेज्ज कयाइ वि।
तस्साहं ण पणस्सामि सो य मे ण पणस्सइ॥
{अहं तु पृथिव्यां तथा वाय्वग्निकालानपि च।
वनस्पतिमपि गतः तस्मादेते न हिंस्यन्ते॥
यो मां सर्वगतं ज्ञात्वा न हिंसेत् कदाचिदपि।
तस्याऽहं न प्रणश्यामि स च मे न प्रणश्यति॥}
The adaptation ingeniously contextualizes the Gītā's metaphysics within Jain ahiṃsā (non-violence), extending divine omnipresence to botanical life.
[Numerous verses surface in Jaina scriptural texts citing the Bhagavadgītā as their source—yet these same verses remain absent from all available editions of Bhagavadgītā. This textual phantom raises profound questions about recension history and the fluidity of canonical boundaries. The missing verses suggest either a broader Gītā tradition than our manuscripts preserve, or the creative attribution of cognate wisdom to authoritative sources. The next blog will focus on such verses.]
A verse from Udyogaparva (5.35.49), spoken by Vidura to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, provides the template for numerous retellings:
न सा सभा यत्र न सन्ति वृद्धा न ते वृद्धा ये न वदन्ति धर्मम्।
नासौ धर्मो यत्र न सत्यमस्ति न तत्सत्यं यच्छलेनानुविद्धम्॥
That is no assembly where elders are absent. Those are no elders who do not speak dharma. That is no dharma where truth is absent. That is no truth which is pierced with deceit.
Dharmasenagaṇi's Vasudevahiṃḍī renders this in Prakrit within the Prabhāvatīlambha:
न सभा वुड्ढविहूणा वुड्ढा वि ण होंति जे अधम्मिट्ठा।
धम्मो न सच्चरहिओ न य सच्चं होइ छलजुत्तं॥
[न सभा वृद्धविरहिता वृद्धा अपि न भवन्ति येऽधर्मिष्ठाः।
धर्मो न सत्यरहितो न च सत्यं भवति छलयुक्तम्॥]
The dialogue goes on with the text extending the it with an additional verse:
धम्मो य अधम्मेण हम्मति सच्चं च जत्थ अलिएणं।
ववहारविसमकारी हम्मंति सभासदा तत्थ॥
[धर्मश्चाधर्मेण हन्यते सत्यं च यत्राऽलीकेन।
व्यवहारविषमकारिणो हन्यन्ते सभासदस्तत्र॥]
Where dharma is destroyed by adharma and truth by falsehood, there the assembly members—perpetrators of uneven dealings—are (themselves) destroyed.
This elaboration draws upon another Mahābhārata verse (Udyogaparva 5.93.48), also found in Manusmṛti (8.14):
यत्र धर्मो ह्यधर्मेण सत्यं यत्रानृतेन च।
हन्यते प्रेक्षमाणानां हतास्तत्र सभासदः॥
Where Dharma is destroyed by Adharma, truth by falsehood, while judges look on—there those assembly members are destroyed.
1. कुतो वा नूतनं वस्तु वयमुत्प्रेक्षितुं क्षमाः। वचोविन्यासवैचित्र्यमात्रमत्र विचार्यताम्॥
2. Similarly, Hemacandra, in his prologue of Pramāṇa-Mīmāṃsā, argues that the knowledge has existed from the earliest times and have been retold in concise and lengthy form as per the desire of the listeners. पाणिनिपिङ्गलकाणादाऽक्षपादादिभ्यः पूर्वं कानि किमीयानि वा व्याकरणादिसूत्राणीत्येतदपि पर्युनुयुङ्क्ष्व? अनादय एव एता विद्याः संक्षेपविस्तारविवक्षया नवनवीभवन्ति तत्तत्कर्तृतकाश्चोच्यन्ते। न किं नाऽश्रौषीः “न कदाचिदनीदृशं जगदिति।”
Idioms, proverbs, and timeless dictions passed down from our forebears have shaped our lives—through their adaptations in modern languages, daily dialogues, and deep literary echoes.
Previous blogs in this series: