Subhashitam #1- Being a Noble and Righteous Person

विसृज्य शूर्पवद्दोषान् गुणान् गृह्णन्ति साधवः।
दोषग्राही गुणत्यागी चालनी इव दुर्जनः॥

visrujya shoorpavaddoShaan guNaan gruhNanti saadhavah l
doShagraahee guNatyaagi chaalanee iva durjanah ll

Noble and righteous persons let go defects and accept good aspects like a winnowing basket (which accepts only grain and removes the husk), whereas a wicked person gives up the good aspects and accepts only the defects like a sieve (which retains impurities and allows the finer good objects to pass through).

If our mind is always filled with good thoughts, we will be able to lead a life as a noble and righteous person. If our mind is filled with bad thoughts we will end up being a bad person. And for a good person, only good things will be visible to the eyes. For a bad person, all that he sees will be bad.

There is a beautiful example for this from the famous epic Mahabharata. Dronacharya called Yudhisthira and Duryodhana and assigned them a task. First Yudhisthira was called and Guru asked him to find one bad person in the city and bring him. At the same time, Duryodhana was called and he was asked to find one good person in the city and bring him. Yudhisthira went in search of a bad person throughout the city. He searched almost every nook and corner of the city. He was unable to find any bad person in the city. Next, Duryodhana went in search of a good person in the city. He couldn't find even a single good person. All that he saw was bad things and crime. Both came back to Dronacharya and explained what they found. Dronacharya started explaining. Though both Duryodhana and Yudhisthira went to search in the same city, Duryodhana was unable to find a single good person because he was not a good person. All that he saw was crime and bad things. For a bad person, only bad things will be visible to their eyes. Yudhisthira was unable to find even a single bad person because he was a good person. All that he saw was good things in people.

So, being a good person with positive thinking will help a person in all aspects of life.