Sanskrit quote nr. 9090 (Maha-subhashita-samgraha)

Sanskrit text:

कवयः किं न पश्यन्ति किं न भक्षन्ति वायसाः ।
प्रमदाः किं न कुर्वन्ति किं न जल्पन्ति मद्यपाः ॥

kavayaḥ kiṃ na paśyanti kiṃ na bhakṣanti vāyasāḥ |
pramadāḥ kiṃ na kurvanti kiṃ na jalpanti madyapāḥ ||

Index

  1. Introduction
  2. Glossary of terms
  3. Analysis of Sanskrit grammar
  4. About the Mahāsubhāṣitasaṃgraha

Presented above is a Sanskrit aphorism, also known as a subhāṣita, which is at the very least, a literary piece of art. This page provides critical research material such as an anlaysis on the poetic meter used, an English translation, a glossary explaining technical terms, and a list of resources including print editions and digital links.

Glossary of Sanskrit terms

Note: Consider this as an approximate extraction of glossary words based on an experimental segmentation of the Sanskrit verse. Some could be superfluous while some might not be mentioned.

Kavi (कवि): defined in 14 categories.
Kim (किम्): defined in 4 categories.
Na (न): defined in 12 categories.
Pashyanti (pasyanti, paśyantī, पश्यन्ती): defined in 6 categories.
Pashyat (pasyat, paśyat, पश्यत्): defined in 3 categories.
Vayasa (vāyasa, वायस): defined in 11 categories.
Pramada (प्रमद, pramadā, प्रमदा): defined in 16 categories.
Kurvat (कुर्वत्): defined in 4 categories.
Jalpat (जल्पत्): defined in 1 categories.
Madyapa (मद्यप, madyapā, मद्यपा): defined in 2 categories.

Defined according to the following glossaries/dictionaries: Jainism, Sanskrit, Pali, Vaishnavism (Vaishava dharma), Purana (epic history), Jyotisha (astronomy and astrology), Shaktism (Shakta philosophy), Marathi, Prakrit, Hindi, Kavyashastra (science of poetry), Kannada, Biology (plants and animals), Tamil, Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism), Vyakarana (Sanskrit grammar), Theravada (major branch of Buddhism), India history, Pancaratra (worship of Nārāyaṇa), Yoga (school of philosophy), Kavya (poetry), Ayurveda (science of life), Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism), Buddhism, Natyashastra (theatrics and dramaturgy), Shaivism (Shaiva philosophy), Chandas (prosody, study of Sanskrit metres), Jain philosophy

Analysis of Sanskrit grammar

Note: this is an experimental feature and only shows the first possible analysis of the Sanskrit verse. If the system was successful in segmenting the sentence, you will see of which words it is made up of, generally consisting of Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Participles and Indeclinables. Click on the link to show all possible derivations of the word.

  • Line 1: “kavayaḥ kiṃ na paśyanti kiṃ na bhakṣanti vāyasāḥ
  • kavayaḥ -
  • kavi (noun, masculine)
    [nominative plural], [vocative plural]
    kavi (noun, feminine)
    [nominative plural], [vocative plural]
  • kim -
  • kim (indeclinable interrogative)
    [indeclinable interrogative]
    kim (indeclinable)
    [indeclinable]
    kim (pronoun, neuter)
    [nominative single], [accusative single]
  • na -
  • na (indeclinable particle)
    [indeclinable particle]
    na (noun, masculine)
    [compound], [vocative single]
    na (noun, neuter)
    [compound], [vocative single]
  • paśyanti -
  • paśyantī (noun, feminine)
    [adverb], [vocative single]
    paśyat (noun, neuter)
    [nominative plural], [vocative plural], [accusative plural]
  • kim -
  • kim (indeclinable interrogative)
    [indeclinable interrogative]
    kim (indeclinable)
    [indeclinable]
    kim (pronoun, neuter)
    [nominative single], [accusative single]
  • na -
  • na (indeclinable particle)
    [indeclinable particle]
    na (noun, masculine)
    [compound], [vocative single]
    na (noun, neuter)
    [compound], [vocative single]
  • bhakṣanti -
  • bhakṣ (verb class 1)
    [present active third plural]
  • vāyasāḥ -
  • vāyasa (noun, masculine)
    [nominative plural], [vocative plural]
  • Line 2: “pramadāḥ kiṃ na kurvanti kiṃ na jalpanti madyapāḥ
  • pramadāḥ -
  • pramada (noun, masculine)
    [nominative plural], [vocative plural]
    pramadā (noun, feminine)
    [nominative plural], [vocative plural], [accusative plural]
  • kim -
  • kim (indeclinable interrogative)
    [indeclinable interrogative]
    kim (indeclinable)
    [indeclinable]
    kim (pronoun, neuter)
    [nominative single], [accusative single]
  • na -
  • na (indeclinable particle)
    [indeclinable particle]
    na (noun, masculine)
    [compound], [vocative single]
    na (noun, neuter)
    [compound], [vocative single]
  • kurvanti -
  • kurvat (noun, neuter)
    [nominative plural], [vocative plural], [accusative plural]
    kṛ -> kurvat (participle, neuter)
    [nominative plural from √kṛ class 8 verb], [vocative plural from √kṛ class 8 verb], [accusative plural from √kṛ class 8 verb]
    kṛ (verb class 8)
    [present active third plural]
  • kim -
  • kim (indeclinable interrogative)
    [indeclinable interrogative]
    kim (indeclinable)
    [indeclinable]
    kim (pronoun, neuter)
    [nominative single], [accusative single]
  • na -
  • na (indeclinable particle)
    [indeclinable particle]
    na (noun, masculine)
    [compound], [vocative single]
    na (noun, neuter)
    [compound], [vocative single]
  • jalpanti -
  • jalp -> jalpat (participle, neuter)
    [nominative plural from √jalp class 1 verb], [vocative plural from √jalp class 1 verb], [accusative plural from √jalp class 1 verb]
    jalp -> jalpantī (participle, feminine)
    [vocative single from √jalp class 1 verb]
    jalp (verb class 1)
    [present active third plural]
  • madyapāḥ -
  • madyapa (noun, masculine)
    [nominative plural], [vocative plural]
    madyapā (noun, feminine)
    [nominative plural], [vocative plural], [accusative plural]

About the Mahāsubhāṣitasaṃgraha

This quote is included within the Mahāsubhāṣitasaṃgraha (महासुभाषितसंग्रह, maha-subhashita-samgraha / subhasita-sangraha), which is a compendium of Sanskrit aphorisms (subhāṣita), collected from various sources. Subhāṣita is a genre of Sanskrit literature, exposing the vast and rich cultural heritage of ancient India.

It has serial number 9090 and can be found on page . (read on archive.org)

Sanskrit is the oldest living language and bears testimony to the intellectual past of ancient India. Three major religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism) share this language, which is used for many of their holy books. Besides religious manuscripts, much of India’s ancient culture has been preserved in Sanskrit, covering topics such as Architecture, Music, Botany, Surgery, Ethics, Philosophy, Dance and much more.

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