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Proverbs and proverbial expressions
209
there is a list of incidental proverbial passages which do not embrace an entire stanza.
1. Proverbs quoted in Böhtlingk’s Indische Sprüche. 1. 102 = Bö. 6921.
sarvathā sarvakāryeşu mādhyasthyam çasyate nīņām,
dantapātaḥ katham na syad atikarpūrabhakşaņāt. Böhtlingk's mss. read paçyate which he corrects to drçyate. Our çasyate is the true reading. He translates : ‘Allerdings tritt bei dem menschen eine gleichgiltigkeit gegen alle sachen zu tage: wie sollten einem vom übermässigen genuss vom kamfer nicht die zähne ausfallen?' In this rendering the second ardharca is a non sequitur. Is not Böhtlingk mistaken? I would render: 'Ever in all concerns moderation is recommended for men: how can excessive consumption of camfor fail to result in the loss of teeth?' In this sense alone the second half hinges properly upon the first half. For the second half cf. Pārçva 1. 15. 3, çarkarām açnatāṁ dantavyathāyāi kim na karkarah. See Pancadaņdachattraprabandha, pp. 45, 80. 1. 103 - Bö. 2504; Kathākoça, p. 161
tārudāho 'ticītena durbhikṣan ativarşaņāt,
atityāgād anāucityam atiḥ kutrāpi neşyate. Böhtlingk has ati for our atiḥ: the latter seems rationalized. Böhtlingk's emendation of nekşyate (so also the mss. of Kathākoça) is supported by our text. Yet nesyate may be lectio facilior. 1. 105 — Bö. 3708.
nityam kştavyayaḥ svāiram merur apy apacīyate,
tejasīva gate vitte naro 'ngārasamo bhavet. Böhtlingk's Mss. read in a: kstavyayasvāiram, which he corrects to kştavyayasvarņo. Our reading is the best: ‘Even (mount) Meru grows less because he ever freely wastes.' Böhtlingk emends in b apariyate to apacīyate, thus brilliantly anticipating our text. Pārçva continues with two stanzas (106-107) which deal well with the different attitude of the world towards rich and poor; they seem to echo Cárudatta's stanzas on this theme in the opening of Mșcchakaţikā.
1. 118 - Bö..1576; Kathākoça, p. 162, top 1. 123 - Bö. 6676; Kathākoça, p. 162, top
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