Head shake

Devanagari text:

 तन्वङ्गीनां स्तनौ दृष्ट्वा शिरः कम्पायते युवा|
तयोरन्तरसंलग्नां दृष्टिमुत्पाटयन्निव||

– पाणिनि

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

tanvaGgInAM stanau dRSTvA ziraH kampAyate yuvA|
tayorantarasaMlagnAM dRSTimutpATayanniva||

– pANini

Loose translation: A young man jerks his head whenever he sees the breasts of a delicate-limbed woman, as if to yank his vision that has got stuck in her cleavage.

Source:  Subhashita Ratna Kosha (सुभाषितरत्नकोष), "a repository of gems of good sayings", Chapter 16 Verse 55, compiled by Vidyakara (विद्याकर) who is believed to be a Buddhist monk affiliated with the Jagaddala monastery in North Bengal in the late 11th – early 12th century CE. The chapter is entitled yuvativarnanavrajyaa (युवतिवर्णनव्रज्या), "the chapter describing young women". As far as the author is concerned, I don't know if he is the same as the Panini, the world's first known descriptive linguist.

Longevity

Below is a fundamental law of nature simply and succinctly stated by the distinguished 19th century Sanskrit scholar Pandit Premchandra Tarkabagish, পণ্ডিত প্রেমচন্দ্র তর্কবাগীশ (1805-1867), of Bengal.

Devanagari text:

 ग्रीष्मकाले दिनं दीर्घं शीतकाले तु शर्वरी|
परोपतापिनः सर्वे प्रायशो दीर्घजीविनः||

– प्रेमचन्द्रतर्कवागीश

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

grISmakAle dinaM dIrghaM zItakAle tu zarvarI|
paropatApinaH sarve prAyazo dIrghajIvinaH||

– premacandratarkavAgIza

Loose translation: Days are longer in the summer; nights are longer in the winter – those who are given to torturing others usually live long too.

Source:  Kavivacanasudhaa verse 233.

Notes: The compiler Pandit Tarakumar Kabiratna, a student of the author, provides the following Bengali verse translation of the above couplet:

দিবাভাগ দীর্ঘ হয় গ্রীষ্মের সময়,

দারুণ শীতের রাত্রি দীর্ঘকাল রয়;

লোকের পীড়নকারী যারা দুরাশয়,

তারাই জগতে হায় দীর্ঘকাল রয়।

Morning rituals

Many South Asians start their day on the edge of a body of water in the open air, bathing, washing and performing religious rites, and have been doing so for centuries. This coming together of individuals from different walks of life to engage in activities that might be considered private in many cultures creates unique opportunities for some to actualize their ignoble intentions with little fear of being caught.

Devanagari text:

स्नायं स्नायमनारतं धनवतामग्रे निरीहव्रताः
प्रायो मृत्तिलदर्भसंग्रहरताः सम्मोहयन्तो जगत्|
अम्भःकेलिकृतावतारतरुणीनीरन्ध्रवक्षोरुह-
द्वन्द्वालोकनकूणितेक्षणयुगं ध्यायन्त्यमी दाम्भिकाः||

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

snAyaM snAyamanArataM dhanavatAmagre nirIhavratAH
prAyo mRttiladarbhasaMgraharatAH sammohayanto jagat|
ambhaHkelikRtAvatArataruNInIrandhravakSoruha-
dvandvAlokanakUNitekSaNayugaM dhyAyantyamI dAmbhikAH ||

– Anonymous

Loose translation: Taking repeated ritual baths (in the river¹), making a great show of their avowed non-possession in the presence of the affluent², often engaged in gathering (religious paraphernalia such as) sacred earth, sesame seeds, and sacred grass, beguiling the whole world, these sanctimonious scoundrels sit (on the river's edge) with their eyes half-closed in a pretense of meditation to get a good view of the (full) breasts, each pair tightly pressing together³, of lasses who have come down (to the river) to frolic about in the water.

Source: Suktimuktaavali (13th century) Chapter 89 Verse 8.

Notes: Within the span of a single distich, our cynical poet has effectively dismissed multiple ascetic / priestly practices as calculated ruses to achieve either artha, "resources and power", (by impressing potential moneyed patrons) or kama, "sensual pleasure", (voyeuristic pleasure, in particular) under the guise of pursuing dharma, "piety and rectitude".

This snippet bears an uncanny resemblance to a line in the first chapter of the Bengali novel Bishabrikkha (বিষবৃক্ষ), "the poison tree", penned by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, where the author describes in great detail the riverside activities of villagers at daybreak, as seen by the protagonist from his boat:

ব্রাহ্মণ ঠাকুরেরা নিরীহ ভালমানুষের মত আপন মনে গঙ্গাস্তব পড়িতেছেন, পূজা করিতেছেন, এক একবার আকন্ঠনিমজ্জিতা কোন যুবতীর প্রতি অলক্ষ্যে চাহিয়া লইতেছেন।

"Putting on a facade of innocence, honorable Brahmins were absorbed in reciting hymns dedicated to the Ganges, solemnizing religious services, and casting furtive glances at the occasional young woman immersed up to her neck."

1 The author does not expressly mention a river. Any other body of water, like a natural lake or a man-made tank (except the ocean), considered sacred would also fit the description.^↩

2 This is my interpretation of the segment धनवतामग्रे निरीहव्रताः, "observing a vow of desirelessness before the wealthy".^↩

3 This is my interpretation of नीरन्ध्र, "without openings", hence "dense" or "firmly closed" (Monier-Williams). It is reminiscent of Kalidasa's description of Uma's breasts in Kumarasambhava Chapter 1 Verse 40:

अन्योन्यमुत्पीडयदुत्पलाक्ष्याः स्तनद्वयं पाण्डु तथा प्रवृद्धम्|

मध्ये यथा श्याममुखस्य तस्य मृणालसूत्रान्तरमप्यलभ्यम्||

"Of her, the lily-eyed one, the two breasts yellowish white, having black nipples and pressing against each other, were so rounded that as much space as could be occupied even by a lotus fibre was impossible to be found between them." – Translation by M. R. Kale.^↩

The Skeptic

Devanagari text:

प्रामाण्यमाक्षिपति साधयतां शिवादीन् देवानभीः किमपि दुर्मतिरागमानाम्|
पुत्रे शिशौ विकृतिमीषदवेक्ष्य भीतो धावत्ययं प्रतिनिशं सबलिः श्मशानम्||

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

prAmANyamAkSipati sAdhayatAM zivAdIn devAnabhIH kimapi durmatirAgamAnAm|
putre zizau vikRtimISadavekSya bhIto dhAvatyayaM pratinizaM sabaliH zmazAnam||

– Anonymous

Loose translation: This blockhead boldly disputes the authenticity of the scriptures followed by the worshippers of Shiva and other deities, but whenever he finds his infant son showing the slightest signs of an ailment, he panics and runs every night to the cremation grounds with sacrificial offerings (for disease-causing spirits).

(The above interpretation is based on my own prosification, which goes as follows: अयम् दुर्मतिः शिवादीन् देवान् साधयताम् आगमानाम् किमपि प्रामाण्यम् अभीः आक्षिपति, शिशौ पुत्रे (तु) विकृतिम् ईषत् अवेक्ष्य भीतः प्रतिनिशम् सबलिः श्मशानम् धावति| I am not sure about the placement of किमपि.)

Source: Suktimuktaavali (13th century) Chapter 89 Verse 16. The compiler seems to indicate that the above couplet was authored by the same poet who wrote this verse. 

Notes: In various treatises, including proto-medical (ayurvedic) compendia such as those by Sushruta, many diseases are attributed to 'malignant spirits', frequently called grahas (ग्रह) or "possessors", and propitiatory rituals for these spirits, involving the sacrifice of edibles and other items and often performed at locations such as crematoria or crossroads at night, are prescribed as 'treatments'. 

This snippet might be a jab at nontheistic traditions that still maintain a belief in supernatural forces and ritualism, or just at an argumentative hypocrite who is only an "atheist until the airplane starts falling."

How to hold your liquor

First, apologies are in order. I have been consistently placing the anthology Subhaashitaavali, compiled by the Kashmiri scholar Vallabhadeva, in the 10th century (see this post or this, for example). However, the current academic consensus dates it to the 15th century CE.

With that out of the way, let's get straight to today's quote. Chapter 17 of Subhaashitaavali is entitled पानकेलिः (pAnakeliH) or "drunken revelry", and the following is an excerpt from that chapter.

Devanagari text:

अन्ययान्यवनितागतचित्तं चित्तनाथमभिशङ्कितवत्या|
पीतभूरिसुरयापि न मेदे निर्वृतिर्हि मनसो मदहेतुः||

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

anyayAnyavanitAgatacittaM cittanAthamabhizaGkitavatyA|
pItabhUrisurayApi na mede nirvRtirhi manaso madahetuH||

– Anonymous

Loose translation: So paranoid was she about the lord of her heart giving his own heart to another woman that she failed to get drunk, no matter how much wine she guzzled – the mind needs to be relaxed for intoxication to kick in.

Source: Subhaashitaavali Verse 2010.

Notes: Personally, I have no idea whether being a jealous lover can help you drink like a fish without getting drunk .... for all the reasons you can imagine.

On a more serious note, here's a scholarly translation of the same couplet by A.N.D. Haksar:

Though she drank much wine,

she did not get drunk

out of concern her lover

may turn to another woman.

Inebriation requires

the mind to be relaxed.

My own (Sanskrit) prosification: 

चित्तनाथम् अन्यवनितागतचित्तम् अभिशङ्कितवत्या अन्यया पीतभूरिसुरया अपि न मेदे| मनसो निर्वृतिर्हि मदहेतुः|

The great conqueror

Sometimes, the enemy is so powerful that it just does not make any sense to resist.

Devanagari text:

जितधूमसमूहाय जितव्यजनवायवे|
मशकाय मया कायः सायमारभ्य दीयते||

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

jitadhUmasamUhAya jitavyajanavAyave|
mazakAya mayA kAyaH sAyamArabhya dIyate||

– Anonymous

Loose translation: Unto him who defeats great clouds of smoke, unto him who vanquishes mighty drafts of air produced by the fan, unto that Mosquito do I offer up my body (for the rest of the night) as evening sets in.

Source: Verse 34 of the anthology Kavivacanasudhaa (कविवचनसुधा), "the nectar of the utterances of poets", compiled and edited by Pandit Tarakumar Kabiratna (ताराकुमारकविरत्न) who was Professor of Sanskrit at the Metropolitan Institution, Calcutta, in the 19th century. 

Notes: The repetition of the sequence aaya (आय) makes the verse quite catchy.

The editor Pandit Tarakumar gives the following Bengali verse translation of the couplet:

দিনু যে এতেক ধোঁয়া কিছু না হইল,

এত যে বাতাস দিনু কিছু না মানিল;

তাই আমি সন্ধ্যা হ'তে আরম্ভ করিয়া 

মশাকেই এ শরীর দিয়াছি ছাড়িয়া।

A delicious confection

Here's a vivid pen-picture of a young male epicurean enjoying the last course of a sumptuous meal.

Devanagari text:

 घृतप्लुते भोजनभाजने पुरःस्फुरत्पुरन्ध्रिप्रतिबिम्बिताकृतेः|
युवा निधायोरसि लड्डुकद्वयं नखैर्लिलेखाथ ममर्द निर्दयम्||

– हर्षपण्डित

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

ghRtaplute bhojanabhAjane puraHsphuratpurandhripratibimbitAkRteH|
yuvA nidhAyorasi laDDukadvayaM nakhairlilekhAtha mamarda nirdayam||

– harSapaNDita

Loose translation: As the reflection of the housewife began to unfold right before his eyes on his plate that was besmeared with ghee (clarified butter), the young man placed a pair of laddoos upon the chest of the image, and scratched them with his nails, before crushing them mercilessly.

Source: Suktimuktaavali Chapter 109 Verse 127. Embar Krishnamacharya, the editor of the critical edition I consulted, identifies the poet Harsha Pandita as the famous Sriharsha, the 12th century author of the classic Naishadhiya Charita and the polemical treatise Khandanakhandakhadya.

Notes: The implication is that the purandhri (पुरन्ध्रि), literally "married woman with a son", is the hostess (the wife of the host), and the youth is a houseguest who is hungry in more ways than one. An excess of ghee in the food enhancing the reflectivity of the (presumably metallic) plate used to entertain a guest – all this also points to a well-to-do household and hence a voluptuous housewife.