As a shining lamp brightens up and shows Thing near it in good light, the glowing light Of a person’s relentless study frees his senses And mind from disorders and makes him bright.
వెలిగే దీపం ఎలాగైతే పక్కనే ఉన్న వస్తువులను తన వెలుగులో ప్రకాశవంతం చేసి చూపిస్తుందో, అలాగే నిరంత రంగా జ్ఞానసమపార్జనంలో మునిగిన మనసు అనవసరమైన విషయాల జోలికి పోకుండా చేసి అన్ని బాధల నుండి, రుగ్మతల నుండి కాపాడుతుంది – అని భావం.
Not much explanation is needed to understand the meaning of this poem. As a light shining in a room shows all the articles in good light, a mind filled with good knowledge and wisdom would save the person from all disorders and makes him look bright.
A person who always stays on the path of knowledge Never gets hindered nor suffer any sort of misfortune; It’s always the one who is lacking in true knowledge That gets entangled in unworthy deeds and bemoan.
Elders always thought that the most virtuous of all deeds that can be performed by a human being is the hardships he undergoes for acquiring the knowledge of the highest kind which in Indian languages is known as ‘jnanamu’ – the knowledge that encompasses the material, philosophical and the spiritual aspects of things understandable by the human mind. They opine that a person who is totally immersed in acquiring such knowledge and always stays on that path would never face any obstacles in his endeavour nor he would get stuck by any unforeseen evil occurrences. Contrary to this, the deeds of a person who is engulfed in worldly pleasures, whose main aim is to obtain worldly pleasures would always get himself entangled in his trails of doing unwise things and would always suffer.
When the fire-God, thus, withdrew his glow from the universe, the main three kinds of fires – the ritualistic fire, the homely fire and the fire that burns during the activities pertaining to one’s fathers and fore-fathers – stopped burning and all the activities were stalled all of a sudden and it was chaos all over.
All the sages in the hermitages and all the common family men in their homes were astonished to witness the sudden change that took place. As fear gripped them, they all ran to Brahmadev.
Brahmadev understood all that happened consequent to the curse spoken against Agnidev by the sage Bhrigu and called Agni to his presence and said:
You act as the bearer of all beings present themselves on earth; you are responsible for all manifestations of things static, non-static; you act as the face of all Gods on earth; you purify all on earth; Oh Bearer of the universe! does it suit you to turn indifferent?
Though cursing in nature, since the words uttered by the great sage Bhrigu were permanent and could not be summarily made non-effective, Brahmadev prayed to Agni….
“As per his curse you could be all devouring, but no impurity would result from that act and you would remain the purest among the pure, you would be the first among the Gods to be worshipped during all Vedic rituals. You would remain the carrier of all presentations and offerings to the Gods made by men during the rituals that are performed strictly following the principles laid down in Vedic texts. You would continue to assist the performers of all the Vedic rituals. Therefore please continue to bear the burden of managing the affairs of the universe as you were doing before!”
Brahma thus resolved the unfortunate occurence and saw to it that words and deeds of both Bhrigu and Agni were properly established.
“I would always give my advice as the present moment rightly suggests Because, by giving advice not in tune with the mood of the present moment Even Brihaspati, the famed Guru to the Gods in the heavens gets dishonoured; Without correctly understanding the time and the state of the situation prevailing then Even good advices and suggestions given by persons not prudent enough Would go unthinkably reverse in meaning.”
The above prose part was taken from the first Canto of the famous Telugu book ‘pancatantraM’ authored by Dubagunta Narayanakavi.
There was a discussion going on between two wolves named KaraTaka and Damanaka. The above words were spoken by the latter, when the former asked him to spell out his idea of giving suggestions and advices that are useful to the well-being of the Lion King PingaLaka.
As per Damanaka’s understanding and prudent thinking, one should correctly assess the situation before spelling out his suggestions before the king. In case one was not careful enough to assess the situation, it could sometimes so happen that even good suggestion might be understood in wrong way and result in a situation that would become difficult and even at times dangerous to the one who gave the suggestion.
The importance of money, and the need to have a constant supply of money required for the well being and upkeep of all the family members, has always been emphasized by elders so that young and middle aged persons in households recognise the importance and do all that is needed to ensure constant supply of money into the household.
Poets belonging to different periods, as and when a situation created opportunity to emphasize the importance of protecting one’s riches and also constantly endeavour to earn money, had also incorporated poems that told the importance of money and the big role it plays in the lives of men in their works.
The following poem, taken from the work ‘Sakala nītikathānidānamu‘ written by Erraya kavi belonging to the period 16th century AD.
A person having good riches is always a blessed one; wealth gives great comfort; since it paves the way to the state of pious virtuousness a man with no riches is equal to a walking dead man.
To the immoral persons who harm the pious and the poor men without remorse in heart whether it is fit to be done to them or not, would occur unexpected fears and miseries.
How can fire be seen in a tree* by cutting it with axe-like felling articles? It can only be obtained when in friction against another wood; like-wise One cannot gain divine knowledge by troubling the body in many ways; It can only be obtained by relentless study in time-tested Vedic methods.
[*] The central idea of the above poem was based on the age-old belief that ‘fire lies embedded or hidden in every tree’ which cannot be seen by the humans with naked eye. The fact that in forests, during hot days, fire is generated by friction between two or more trees, which stand in proximity to each other, is seen as a valid reason for the above-mentioned belief.
Based on the above belief, the present poem says, as one cannot see the fire hidden in the trees by cutting them and breaking them, one cannot obtain great knowledge through troubling one’s own body, as practiced by some, with various methods of starvation etc. It can only be obtained by following relentless study for a period of time in time-tested ways under the able guidance of a good teacher.
The above poem (which is in champakamala metre) was one of the many poems that formed a small part (of discussion between Manu and the Brihaspati) in Shanti parvam of Andhra Mahabharatam.
Considered thoughtfully, indulging in self-praise And abusing fellow men are the weaknesses Of an unwise mind – say the pious-hearted elders; It doesn’t behove of me to boast and praise myself.
[*] Those were the words spoken by the sage Vasishtha in the audience of Devendra, during the heated exchange of words between him and the Sage Viswamitra, regarding the greatness of the king Harischandra.
TELUGU LITERATURE 
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