The best of a group or a class that, by its very nature, lent grace to the whole or contributed to its wealth was aptly termed as 'gem' (ratnam) by the ancients. A stanza or a part thereof which is likewise distinguished by uncommon poetic excellence, imparts aesthetic pleasure to the connoisseur and has didactic overtones, and thereby stands out from the common mass, is given the happy name of subhasita, a wise saying. In the poetic parlance subhasita is but another name of 'gem'. Well has it been said by the poet:
पृथिव्यां श्रोणि रत्नानि अलम् अन्नं सुभाषितम् ।
मूडः पाषाणखण्डेषु रहनसंज्ञा विधीयते ॥
A subhasita, when recited or heard, soothes the mind, comforts the heart and invariably heightens one's awareness / knowledge in its wide ramifications. The tiny jar of subhasita overflows with an ocean of rasa. By their inherent genius, the subhasitas encompass a variety of subjects and evoke acceptance by their manifold virtues. A large mass of the old wise-sayings is doubtless attributed to the ancient poets, both known and unknown. But there is a sizable segment of the subhasitas that has been handed down, over the ages, by oral transmission, and thereby tends to suffer unwarranted interpolations. Even the well-equipped scholars are unable to identify their authors with certainty. They continue to pass on as respectable but anonymous adages, with everybody floating his own surmise about their authors and sources.
There is hardly any Snskrit work which is not embellished by wise sayings popularly known as Subhasitas. In fact Sanskrit Literature is a vast treasure-house of wise sayings. Even the tough discourses of the sastric treatises are enlivened when embedded with Subhasitas. True to their name, the wise sayings or subhasitas, represent the unique wisdom, which, when properly imbided, serves as our true guide and friend to the tricky journey of life. These depict our culture and experiences of life. Couched in beautiful language and expression, they really delight the heart and soul of the Sahrdayas. These provide a window to the socio cultural saga of our country over the centuries, The wealth of their contents is enclothed in innumerable beliefs and traditions, joys and sorrows, achievements and failures, religion and philosophy.
Apart from the well known compilations like the Subhasitavalt of Vallabhadeva, the Suktimuktavali of Jalhana, the Saduktikarnamita of Sridharadasa, the Subhasitaratnakosa of Vidyakara, the Subhasitaratna-bhandagara of Narayana Rama Acarya and an anonymous Kavindravacanasamuccaya of the past, there are recent collections of them like the Samskrtasuktiratnakara of Ramji Upadhyaya, the Nttimuktavali of Ravindra Kumar Seth and Devakanya Arya, the Visvasamsketa- suktikosa, in three volumes, of Lalitaprabhasagara, the Suktiratnavali of Kulamani Mishra, the Subhasita-Sahasri of Dr. Satyavrat Shastri and Kathasaritsagara Ki Stiktiyan of the writer of these lines. Since none of the earlier anthologies was exhaustive enough to cover the entire Sanskrit literature. Prof. Ludwik Sternbach thought of compiling all the subhasitas in a work, a mahasangraha in the real sense of the term, the biggest ever collection of the Sanskrit subhasitas.
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