सूक्तिसुधाClass 9 Sanskrit Amod Chapter 9 Notes – Maharashtra Board

Summary: सूक्तिसुधा

Verse 1 praises knowledge as the chief of all wealth: thieves and kings cannot take it, brothers cannot divide it, it is never a burden, and it grows the more you spend (share) it — विद्याधनं सर्वधनप्रधानम्.

Verse 2: only small-minded people keep counting 'this one is mine, that one is a stranger'; for the large-hearted the whole earth is one family — वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम्. Verse 3: trees bear fruit, rivers flow and cows give milk for others — so this body too is for helping others (परोपकारार्थमिदं शरीरम्).

Verse 4 lists the gifts of good company (सत्सङ्गतिः): it removes dullness of mind, sprinkles truth into speech, raises honour, drives away sin, cheers the mind and spreads fame in all directions. Verse 5: where women are respected the gods are happy; where they are not, every ritual is fruitless.

Verse 6: the चातक bird asks the cloud for just three or four drops, but the cloud fills the whole world with water — such is the generosity of the great (महतामुदारता). Verse 7 (Yudhishthira): in a quarrel among ourselves they are a hundred and we are five, but against an outsider we are one hundred and five together — वयं पञ्चाधिकं शतम्.

Verse 8: readers, teachers and those who only recite the śāstras are merely hobbyists; the one who puts learning into practice is the real पण्डित — यः क्रियावान् स पण्डितः. The page also has a विसर्ग-सन्धि chart and a रम्यसंस्कृतम् dialogue on the numbers षष्, सप्तन्, अष्टन्, नवन्.

Key points to remember

• सूक्तिः = a wise saying; सुधा = nectar; कण्ठस्थीकरणार्थम् = to be learnt by heart
• 1: विद्याधनं सर्वधनप्रधानम् — knowledge grows when spent
• 2: वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् — for the generous, the earth is a family
• 3: trees, rivers and cows all work परोपकाराय (for others)
• 4: सत्सङ्गतिः कथय किं न करोति पुंसाम् — what does good company not do?
• 5: यत्र नार्यस्तु पूज्यन्ते रमन्ते तत्र देवताः
• 6: the चातक and the cloud — हन्त हन्त महतामुदारता
• 7: Yudhishthira — 'we are a hundred and five' against outsiders
• 8: यः क्रियावान् स पण्डितः — practice makes the scholar
• Numbers 5 to 19 have no gender difference and are always plural

सूक्तिसुधा – Notes

1. Verses 1–4: meaning

• 1. Knowledge cannot be stolen by a thief or seized by a king, cannot be split among brothers and is never heavy to carry. Spending ordinary money makes it less; 'spending' knowledge by teaching makes it more. So it is the most important of all riches.
• 2. Thinking 'he is my own, he is an outsider' is the habit of narrow minds (लघुचेतसः). For people of noble conduct (उदारचरिताः) the whole earth (वसुधा) is just one family. This line is written in the entrance hall of India's Parliament.
• 3. Trees give fruit, rivers keep flowing and cows give milk — none of them for themselves. In the same way, the human body is meant for परोपकारः (doing good to others).
• 4. Good company takes away the dullness (जाड्यम्) of the mind, pours truth into speech, increases self-respect, removes sin, makes the mind clear and spreads fame in all directions. The verse ends with a question: tell me, what good does it not do for people?

2. Verses 5–8: meaning

• 5. From the Manusmriti: where women are honoured, there the gods rejoice; where they are not honoured, all actions (क्रियाः) bring no fruit (अफलाः). A family or society that respects women prospers.
• 6. The चातक (pied cuckoo) is said to drink only rain-drops. Out of thirst it asks the cloud (जलधरः) for three or four drops — but the cloud rains on the whole world. 'हन्त हन्त' expresses wonder: how great is the generosity of the great!
• 7. Yudhishthira's words in the Mahabharata: when we quarrel among ourselves, the Kauravas are a hundred and we are five; but when an outsider attacks, we are a hundred and five together. Family quarrels must be forgotten before a common enemy.
• 8. One who reads (पठकः), one who teaches (पाठकः) and others who simply recite the śāstras are all just people with a hobby (व्यसनिनः). Only the person who acts on what he knows (क्रियावान्) deserves the name पण्डित.

3. Sandhi and word work

• Sandhi splits: वर्धत एव = वर्धते + एव; परो वेति = परः + वा + इति; वसुधैव = वसुधा + एव; यत्रैताः = यत्र + एताः; तत्राफलाः = तत्र + अफलाः; सोऽपि = सः + अपि; पाठकश्चैव = पाठकः + च + एव.
• Synonyms: चोरः = तस्करः; धनम् = वित्तम्; विद्या = ज्ञानम्; नित्यम् = सदा; वृक्षः = तरुः; नदी = सरित्; शरीरम् = देहः; जलधरः = मेघः; पयः = जलम्.
• Opposites: व्ययः × आयः; नित्यम् × अनित्यम्; प्रधानम् × गौणम्; उपकारः × अपकारः; परः × स्वः (निजः).
• अमरकोष (book's list, p. 95): for महिला — स्त्री, योषित्, अङ्गना, योषा, नारी, सीमन्तिनी, वधूः; for मेघः — अभ्रम्, मेघः, वारिवाहः, तडित्वान्, वारिदः, अम्बुभृत्.

4. पठत अवगच्छत — the world of visarga (p. 58)

• The visarga (ः) changes in many ways in sandhi. It may become ओ with an avagraha: सः + अहम् = सोऽहम्; or simply ओ: रामः + गच्छति = रामो गच्छति.
• It stays unchanged (अविकारी) before क, ख, प, फ: कः परः.
• It becomes स्, श् or ष् to suit the next consonant: देवः + तथा = देवस्तथा; हरिः + शेते = हरिश्शेते; बालः + षष्ठः = बालष्षष्ठः.
• It becomes र्: तैः + अपि = तैरपि, देवैः + न = देवैर्न; and it drops (लोपी) in सूर्यः + इव = सूर्य इव.

5. रम्यसंस्कृतम् — सङ्ख्याविशेषणानि २ (p. 59)

• In a dialogue, a grandmother tells the children that numbers 1–4 change with gender, but from five onwards there is no gender difference: पञ्च आसन्दाः, पञ्च अङ्कन्यः, पञ्च भवनानि.
• Famous number phrases: सप्त ऋषयः, अष्ट वसवः, नव रात्रयः, दश आननानि (Ravana's ten faces), त्रीणि भुवनानि, नव रत्नानि.
• From पञ्चन् to नवदशन् the endings are like पञ्चन्: पञ्च, पञ्च, पञ्चभिः, पञ्चभ्यः, पञ्चभ्यः, पञ्चानाम्, पञ्चसु — always plural.
• Table: षष् — षट्, षड्भिः, षड्भ्यः, षण्णाम्, षट्सु; अष्टन् — अष्ट/अष्टौ, अष्टभिः/अष्टाभिः, अष्टानाम्, अष्टसु/अष्टासु; नवन् — नव, नवभिः, नवभ्यः, नवानाम्, नवसु.

Eight सूक्ति — key line and meaning

Key terms

सूक्तिसुधा – Flashcards

Read the question, answer it in your head, then tap the card to check. 20 cards.

सूक्तिसुधा – MCQ Quiz

15 questions. Tap an option — you will see at once if it is right and why.

How to study सूक्तिसुधा

⏱ About 50 minutes

1. Verses (25 min)
   Learn each verse with its key line and English meaning; recite two at a time.
2. Word work (10 min)
   Practise the sandhi splits, synonyms, opposites and the visarga chart.
3. Practice (15 min)
   Do the number fill-ins and the 'Try it yourself' answers, take the quiz and play the 🎮 Play game.