The three real jewels: water, food and a good saying
पृथिव्यां त्रीणि रत्नानि जलमन्नं सुभाषितम्।
मूढैः पाषाणखण्डेषु रत्नसंज्ञा विधीयते॥
pṛthivyāṃ trīṇi ratnāni jalamannaṃ subhāṣitam |
mūḍhaiḥ pāṣāṇakhaṇḍeṣu ratnasaṃjñā vidhīyate ||
Translation
There are three jewels on earth: water, food and a good saying. It is fools who give the name "jewel" to bits of stone.
Meaning
A subhāṣita in praise of subhāṣitas: the anthology puts it first among the verses "in praise of good sayings". It is the perfect motto for a page like this one.
Su-bhāṣita means "well said": su "good, well" + bhāṣita "spoken". The verse itself shows the art it praises: a surprising list, then a witty reversal of what everyone calls precious.
Sanskrit Wikiquote also has it as the first verse of chapter 14 of the Cāṇakyanītidarpaṇa.
Word by word · 10 words
| Devanagari | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| पृथिव्याम् | pṛthivyām | on earth (loc. sg. f.) |
| त्रीणि | trīṇi | three (nom. pl. n.) |
| रत्नानि | ratnāni | jewels (nom. pl. n.) |
| जलम् | jalam | water |
| अन्नम् | annam | food |
| सुभाषितम् | subhāṣitam | a well-spoken saying, a subhāṣita |
| मूढैः | mūḍhaiḥ | by fools (instr. pl.) |
| पाषाणखण्डेषु | pāṣāṇakhaṇḍeṣu | to bits of stone (loc. pl.) |
| रत्नसंज्ञा | ratnasaṃjñā | the name "jewel" (nom. sg. f.) |
| विधीयते | vidhīyate | is given (passive 3rd sg. of vi + √dhā) |
Pronunciation
pṛthivyāṃ trīṇi ratnāni jalamannaṃ subhāṣitam |
mūḍhaiḥ pāṣāṇakhaṇḍeṣu ratnasaṃjñā vidhīyate ||
- subhāṣitam: aspirated bh and retroflex ṣ: su-bhā-ṣi-tam.
- pāṣāṇa: two long ā and retroflex ṣ, ṇ: pā-ṣā-ṇa.
- ṛ is a vowel, a short syllabic r (like the "ri" in "rhythm" said quickly): mṛ-tyu, not mar-tyu.
- A final visarga ḥ is a soft "h" breath that echoes the vowel before it: namaḥ sounds like "nama-ha" (lightly).