What do you think?
Rate this book
Selected Agricultural Proverbs of the Panjab
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 22, 2015
The British really had it right when they did massive surveys of South Asia's hinterlands, compiling vast amounts of knowledge not done since ancient times (ex: dravyaguna shastra). This book is the result of one of those surveys.
Punjab in Maconachie's day included Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as North India, so the region covered is enormous and culturally heterogeneous. Still, only a handful of villages were documented, and some with startling resemblances. There also needs to be a retranslation of them by someone adept in North South Asian culture and lingo. For instance:
Proverb #842 : "Pehle shah, pichche badshah"
Maconachie's translation: "A moneylender is superior to a king."
Actual Urdu meaning: "First comes the king, followed by the emperor"
Proverb #909 : "Mal narm, tahsil garam"
Maconachie's translation: "The money should be gentle, the collection of it warm."
Actual Urdu meaning: "If products are produced easily, the district will warm/good."
Given these translation are accurate, here's a smattering of some ancient, practical wisdom:
#85 Rain is the husband of the land.
#729 Pleasures and inactivity lead to poverty, industry brings comfort and influence.
#734 From industry comes respect.
#751 Earn as a servant, and eat as a master.
#753 Earning must have some means, as death must have a pretense.
#787 He who does not live economically comes to ruin in the end.
#797 Eat meat and destruction will ensue. Drink alcohol and be ruined.
#815 Starving is a friend, borrowing is an enemy.
#818 Twenty in hand are better than thirty borrowed.
#819 Rain may stop, but the interest on a debt will not.
#844 A book worth 2 paise has power over thousands.
#881 Give little, gain much
#893 Acknowledge the just right of your partner, consider him better than yourself.
#915 A farmer cannot rule, and a Brahmin cannot work.
#956 The king, yogi, fire and water: all are of uncertain character. Beware, Parshuram: do not trust them.
#971 The sugarcane was safe in the day, but at night stolen. Grow millet, not sugarcane.
#973 Cotton sown after cotton, sugarcane sown after sorghum, and those who don't follow the teachings of their ancestors... these three will be ruined.
#1081 Government is blind. The virtuous are considered liars, and thieves true men.
#1083 The bread of the poor is dry, and their days are long.
#1089 You may eat like a sheep within its flock, but you will die alone.
Punjab in Maconachie's day included Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as North India, so the region covered is enormous and culturally heterogeneous. Still, only a handful of villages were documented, and some with startling resemblances. There also needs to be a retranslation of them by someone adept in North South Asian culture and lingo. For instance:
Proverb #842 : "Pehle shah, pichche badshah"
Maconachie's translation: "A moneylender is superior to a king."
Actual Urdu meaning: "First comes the king, followed by the emperor"
Proverb #909 : "Mal narm, tahsil garam"
Maconachie's translation: "The money should be gentle, the collection of it warm."
Actual Urdu meaning: "If products are produced easily, the district will warm/good."
Given these translation are accurate, here's a smattering of some ancient, practical wisdom:
#85 Rain is the husband of the land.
#729 Pleasures and inactivity lead to poverty, industry brings comfort and influence.
#734 From industry comes respect.
#751 Earn as a servant, and eat as a master.
#753 Earning must have some means, as death must have a pretense.
#787 He who does not live economically comes to ruin in the end.
#797 Eat meat and destruction will ensue. Drink alcohol and be ruined.
#815 Starving is a friend, borrowing is an enemy.
#818 Twenty in hand are better than thirty borrowed.
#819 Rain may stop, but the interest on a debt will not.
#844 A book worth 2 paise has power over thousands.
#881 Give little, gain much
#893 Acknowledge the just right of your partner, consider him better than yourself.
#915 A farmer cannot rule, and a Brahmin cannot work.
#956 The king, yogi, fire and water: all are of uncertain character. Beware, Parshuram: do not trust them.
#971 The sugarcane was safe in the day, but at night stolen. Grow millet, not sugarcane.
#973 Cotton sown after cotton, sugarcane sown after sorghum, and those who don't follow the teachings of their ancestors... these three will be ruined.
#1081 Government is blind. The virtuous are considered liars, and thieves true men.
#1083 The bread of the poor is dry, and their days are long.
#1089 You may eat like a sheep within its flock, but you will die alone.
Displaying 1 of 1 review