A subhashita (Sanskrit: सुभाषित, subhāṣita) is a short memorable verse, generally meant to convey a truth, advice, lesson or sometimes even a riddle on some fundamental facet of life. The prefix su in Sanskrit means ‘good’ and bhashita means ‘spoken’; thus the word literally means a well spoken or an eloquent saying.

Subhashita-s are one of the many forms of literary compositions in Sanskrit. in ancient and medieval Indian literature, we find tens of thousands of subhashita-s, dealing with a vast range of subjects. Numerous anthologies of subhashita-s were compiled, which are referred to as subhashitavali or subhashitani.

We present here two popular subhashita-s on Humility, our theme for this issue.

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~ Translation in Hindi and English: Thakur Prasad

~ Graphic Design: Biswajita Mohapatra