Post by subi24 on Jun 11, 2013 8:26:24 GMT 5.5
Sometime in 1956-57, Periva was camping at the Sanskrit College in Mylapore. One evening, addressing a large gathering, Periva recited the first two lines of a subashita verse in Sanskrit:
Arthaaturaanam na gurur na bandhu l
Kshudhaathuranam na ruchiki na pakvam ll
(One who pursues wealth knows no guru or relations.
One who is hungry knows neither taste nor how well the food is cooked.)
Periva then asked Prof. Sankaranarayana Iyer if he could complete the subashita's next two lines. The professor did not know the other two lines but there was Dr. C.R. Swaminathan in the audience who completed the verse with the following two lines:
Vidyaturaanaam, na sukham, na nidra l
Kaamaaturanam na bhayam na lajja ll
(One who pursues knowledge knows neither comfort nor sleep.
One who has desires knows no fear or shame.)
Later, when Periva asked Dr. Swaminathan where he learnt the verse, Dr. CRS replied that he had learnt it from his grandfather at home.
In conclusion that evening, Periva brought out a lesson from this incident very beautifully - Children should get moral education and learn good things from elders at home. How nice!
Another incident that I personally experienced reinforced Periva's lesson. Some years ago, I met in Toronto a 8 year old Indian boy from South Africa. He did not know to speak or write Tamil but when I asked him to sing a song, he sang nicely "Krishna Mukunda Murare" - a very old song sung by M.K. Tyagaraja Bhagavatar. When I asked the boy from whom he had learnt this song, he replied instantly, "From my Thatha."
Jaya Jaya Sankara Hara Hara Sankara
Arthaaturaanam na gurur na bandhu l
Kshudhaathuranam na ruchiki na pakvam ll
(One who pursues wealth knows no guru or relations.
One who is hungry knows neither taste nor how well the food is cooked.)
Periva then asked Prof. Sankaranarayana Iyer if he could complete the subashita's next two lines. The professor did not know the other two lines but there was Dr. C.R. Swaminathan in the audience who completed the verse with the following two lines:
Vidyaturaanaam, na sukham, na nidra l
Kaamaaturanam na bhayam na lajja ll
(One who pursues knowledge knows neither comfort nor sleep.
One who has desires knows no fear or shame.)
Later, when Periva asked Dr. Swaminathan where he learnt the verse, Dr. CRS replied that he had learnt it from his grandfather at home.
In conclusion that evening, Periva brought out a lesson from this incident very beautifully - Children should get moral education and learn good things from elders at home. How nice!
Another incident that I personally experienced reinforced Periva's lesson. Some years ago, I met in Toronto a 8 year old Indian boy from South Africa. He did not know to speak or write Tamil but when I asked him to sing a song, he sang nicely "Krishna Mukunda Murare" - a very old song sung by M.K. Tyagaraja Bhagavatar. When I asked the boy from whom he had learnt this song, he replied instantly, "From my Thatha."
Jaya Jaya Sankara Hara Hara Sankara