How the Hitopadeśa began: a king and his idle sons
अस्ति भागीरथीतीरे पाटलिपुत्रनामधेयं नगरम् । तत्र सर्वस्वामिगुणोपेतः सुदर्शनो नाम नरपतिर् आसीत् । …
इत्य् आकर्ण्यात्मनः पुत्राणाम् अनधिगतशास्त्राणां नित्यम् उन्मार्गगामिनां शास्त्राननुष्ठानेनोद्विग्नमनाः स राजा चिन्तयामास ।
को ऽर्थः पुत्रेण जातेन यो न विद्वान् न धार्मिकः ।
काणेन चक्षुषा किं वा चक्षुः पीडैव केवलम् ॥ …
अत्रान्तरे विष्णुशर्मनामा महापण्डितः सकलनीतिशास्त्रतत्त्वज्ञो बृहस्पतिर् इवाब्रवीत् — देव महाकुलसम्भूता एते राजपुत्राः । तत् मया नीतिं ग्राहयितुं शक्यन्ते । …
अतो ऽहं षण्मासाभ्यन्तरे भवत्पुत्रान् नीतिशास्त्राभिज्ञान् करिष्यामि ।
asti bhāgīrathītīre pāṭaliputranāmadheyaṃ nagaram | tatra sarvasvāmiguṇopetaḥ sudarśano nāma narapatir āsīt | …
ity ākarṇyātmanaḥ putrāṇām anadhigataśāstrāṇāṃ nityam unmārgagāmināṃ śāstrānanuṣṭhānenodvignamanāḥ sa rājā cintayāmāsa |
ko 'rthaḥ putreṇa jātena yo na vidvān na dhārmikaḥ |
kāṇena cakṣuṣā kiṃ vā cakṣuḥ pīḍaiva kevalam || …
atrāntare viṣṇuśarmanāmā mahāpaṇḍitaḥ sakalanītiśāstratattvajño bṛhaspatir ivābravīt — deva mahākulasambhūtā ete rājaputrāḥ | tat mayā nītiṃ grāhayituṃ śakyante | …
ato 'haṃ ṣaṇmāsābhyantare bhavatputrān nītiśāstrābhijñān kariṣyāmi |
Translation
On the bank of the Ganges there is a city called Pāṭaliputra. There lived a king named Sudarśana, endowed with every quality of a ruler. ... Hearing this, the king, troubled in mind because his own sons had learned nothing, always went astray and never followed the teachings, reflected: "What use is a son who is neither learned nor righteous? What use is a blind eye? It is only a pain." ... Then a great scholar named Viṣṇuśarman, who knew the essence of all the sciences of conduct, spoke like Bṛhaspati: "Your Majesty, these princes are born of a great family, so I can teach them statecraft. ... Therefore within six months I will make your sons experts in the science of conduct."
The story
The frame story of the Hitopadeśa. King Sudarśana of Pāṭaliputra hears someone recite two verses in praise of learning and grows worried: his sons are ignorant and wayward. He calls an assembly of scholars and asks whether anyone can give his sons a "second birth" through the teaching of statecraft.
The scholar Viṣṇuśarman promises to do it in six months. He takes the princes to the palace terrace and, to keep them entertained, teaches through stories about animals: crows, tortoises, deer, mice, lions and jackals. The four books that follow are his lessons: Winning Friends, Separating Friends, War, and Peace.
Meaning
Nārāyaṇa's Hitopadeśa, a medieval work (its oldest dated manuscript is from the 14th century), reworks the older Pañcatantra, which has a very similar frame with King Amaraśakti. The device is the oldest trick in education: teach a hard subject through a good story.
The king's verse is harsh but memorable: an uneducated son is like a blind eye, of no use and only a source of pain.
Word by word · 14 words
| Devanagari | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| भागीरथीतीरे | bhāgīrathītīre | on the bank of the Bhāgīrathī, i.e. the Ganges (loc. sg.) |
| पाटलिपुत्रनामधेयम् | pāṭaliputranāmadheyam | named Pāṭaliputra (nom. sg. n.) |
| नरपतिः | narapatiḥ | king, "lord of men" (nom. sg. m.) |
| अनधिगतशास्त्राणाम् | anadhigataśāstrāṇām | who had not studied the sciences (gen. pl.) |
| उन्मार्गगामिनाम् | unmārgagāminām | going down the wrong road (gen. pl.) |
| उद्विग्नमनाः | udvignamanāḥ | troubled in mind (nom. sg. m.) |
| कः अर्थः | kaḥ arthaḥ | what use (is)? |
| काणेन चक्षुषा | kāṇena cakṣuṣā | with a blind eye (instr. sg.) |
| पीडा | pīḍā | pain (nom. sg. f.) |
| महापण्डितः | mahāpaṇḍitaḥ | a great scholar (nom. sg. m.) |
| बृहस्पतिः इव | bṛhaspatiḥ iva | like Bṛhaspati, the teacher of the gods |
| नीतिम् | nītim | statecraft, the art of wise conduct (acc. sg. f.) |
| षण्मासाभ्यन्तरे | ṣaṇmāsābhyantare | within six months (loc. sg.) |
| नीतिशास्त्राभिज्ञान् | nītiśāstrābhijñān | expert in the science of conduct (acc. pl. m.) |
Pronunciation
ko rthaḥ putreṇa jātena yo na vidvān na dhārmikaḥ |
kāṇena cakṣuṣā kiṃ vā cakṣuḥ pīḍaiva kevalam ||
Syllables are given for the king's verse (Hit 0.12).
- pāṭaliputra: retroflex ṭ, pā-ṭa-li-put-ra.
- viṣṇuśarman: ṣ and ṇ are both retroflex, viṣ-ṇu-śar-man.
- 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).