Quote of the Week

Thorn

kaNTakenaiva kaNTakam

कण्टकेनैव कण्टकम्

kaNTakam = thorn
kaNTakena = by thorn
eva = only

Loose translation: Only a thorn [can remove] another thorn.

Courtesy: Practical Sanskrit (also Image)

Related Post: Simple Sanskrit and Great Ideas

Past Quotes are here.

B Shantanu

Political Activist, Blogger, Advisor to start-ups, Seed investor. One time VC and ex-Diplomat. Failed mushroom farmer; ex Radio Jockey. Currently involved in Reclaiming India - One Step at a Time.

You may also like...

12 Responses

  1. Prakash says:

    Devanagari word does not show up properly in this post. It should be

    कण्टकेनैव कण्टकम्

    The phonetics is important here. A dot over ka as in कं
    does not do justice to संस्कृतभाषा .

  2. Ramaswamy says:

    To Prakash:

    Why do you say the dot over ‘ka’ does not do justice? My understanding is that the dot takes the sound of the nasal letter of each family of ka, cha, ta, tha, pa. That is when the following letter is ‘ta’ as is the case here it should sound ‘Na’. Please clarify.

  3. Prakash says:

    In the Indian languages that employ Devnagari script, the dot over the preceding letter has become a stock symbol for all such words. That has led to mispronunciation of most such words. Thus, if one specifically writes the syllable, as in ङ् ञ् ण् न् or म् , one makes sure it is pronounced properly in Sanskrit. If one uses the dot as is common in all non-Sanskrit languages, it does not do justice to the pronunciation.

    Strictly a word such as कंस employs the dot in the most proper way. I am not sure whether using the dot as in कंटक is wrong. That is why I have written about doing justice, not about it being wrong. I hope that clarifies the issue.

  4. Prakash says:

    Further, when I wrote about “Devanagari word does not show up properly”, I was alluding to कंटकएनैव. The fourth letter of that word should not be there. It should not be कंटकएन , rather, it should कंटकेन (ignoring the issue of the dot for the time being).

    कंटकेन is the instrumental form of the word कंटक .

  5. Madhusudan says:

    If only we could figure out which thorns are pricking us(India) and which one to remove using which other ??

  6. Madhusudan says:

    I think the second part of the above question is more important to deal with because more or less we know what is pricking us.

  7. Uma says:

    My interpretation of the above Subhashitam would be…speak the same language that the other party understands. Pak understands only terrorism, not talks and millions of flood aid. Same goes for the so called ‘Innocent youth’ dying in Kashmir. If they come out during curfew to pelt stones, beating them back is the language they understand. Not reducing the powers of Army and holding useless discussions with the seperatists.

  8. Madhusudan says:

    But can this sutra be used at our whims, Or has to be used with discretion.

  9. @Uma,
    Agree with you.

    @Madhusudan,
    Obviously with discretion. And this should be decided as per demand.

    Jai Bharat!

  10. B Shantanu says:

    Prakash, Ramaswamy, Madhusudan, Uma and Sandeep: Thanks for the comments…
    For me, the “sutra” is something that should be borne in mind when planning tactics to deal with challenges and issues…It must of course be used with discretion. The crucial point (in my view) is that a “thorn” is sometimes the most appropriate response to another “thorn”.

    Prakash: I have made the correction…Thanks for spotting it.

  11. seadog4227 says:

    Pls refer Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda: he refers to this verse in the use of the British to rid Bharat mata of Islamic rule.
    Present relevance: Dealings with Pakistan, China, Australia, US, the Vatican, muslim “leaders”, frauds like Mayawati, Laloo, Arundhati Roy, N.Ram, Burqa Dutt, Frauddeep Sardesai,Teesta Aatankvad et etc

  12. Prakash says:

    Using your metaphor of a thorn, I would like to present a rather different line of thinking. Consider the environment of a rose. Thorns protect the bush from big herbivores; soil supplies the nutrients, and the Sun, the energy. Without thorns, the rose would be too vulnerable. Without the soil or the Sun, there would be no rose.

    Let me now invite you to think of a developed country as a rose. What are its Sun, soil, and thorns? What can you do to identify these three for India?