नित्यं पिबामः सुभाषितरसम्

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शब्दभण्डारम् · Six key words

Tap each word to see how it is read (IAST) and what it means. Together they tell us why we “drink” good sayings every day.

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The three big ideas

What is a सुभाषित? सु (well) + भाषित (spoken) — a short, well-crafted verse that packs deep wisdom into a few words. Sanskrit literature has thousands of them.
The metaphor. The title compares wisdom to रसः — nectar or juice. Just as we drink water daily to live, we “drink” wise sayings daily to grow in mind and character.
Small but mighty. A subhāṣita can be learned in a minute yet remembered for life — it is portable wisdom you can carry anywhere.
Reading aloud. Subhāṣitas are usually in verse (often the अनुष्टुप् metre, 8 syllables per line), so they are easy to chant and memorise.

The idea. लट् लकार is the present tense (“does / is doing”). A Sanskrit verb changes its ending by person (पुरुष) and number (वचन).
Three persons. प्रथमपुरुष (he/she/it/they), मध्यमपुरुष (you), उत्तमपुरुष (I/we).
Three numbers. एकवचन (one), द्विवचन (two), बहुवचन (many).
The model verb पठ् (to read):
• प्रथमपुरुष: पठति · पठतः · पठन्ति
• मध्यमपुरुष: पठसि · पठथः · पठथ
• उत्तमपुरुष: पठामि · पठावः · पठामः
Our verb. पा (to drink) makes the stem पिब्: पिबति (drinks), पिबन्ति (they drink), and पिबामः (we drink) — उत्तमपुरुष बहुवचन.

Worked example. Form the correct present-tense verb: वयम् ___ (पठ्) — “We read.”

Step 1. Subject = वयम् (we) → उत्तमपुरुष, बहुवचन.

Step 2. Take the उत्तमपुरुष बहुवचन ending of लट् लकार: -आमः.

Step 3. Attach to the stem पठ्: पठ् + आमः.

Answer: वयम् पठामः — “We read.” (Same pattern as पिबामः.)

Common mistake: matching the wrong number. A plural subject (वयम्, बालकाः) needs a plural verb. “वयम् पठति” is wrong; it must be “वयम् पठामः”.

The value. Knowledge (विद्या, ज्ञानम्) is a wealth that cannot be stolen and only grows when shared — a recurring idea in Sanskrit subhāṣitas.
A daily habit. नित्यम् (daily) is the key word: learning a little every day, steadily, beats cramming once. Small sips of nectar, often.
How to read it. When you meet a subhāṣita, find the verb, find the subject, then ask what wise idea it leaves you with — that idea is its “rasa”.

A classic public-domain subhāṣita on the worth of good speech:

पृथिव्यां त्रीणि रत्नानि जलमन्नं सुभाषितम्।
मूढैः पाषाणखण्डेषु रत्नसंज्ञा विधीयते॥

pṛthivyāṃ trīṇi ratnāni jalam-annaṃ subhāṣitam /
mūḍhaiḥ pāṣāṇa-khaṇḍeṣu ratna-saṃjñā vidhīyate

Meaning: “On earth there are three (true) jewels — water, food and good speech. Only fools give the name ‘jewel’ to mere pieces of stone.” It shows why a subhāṣita is treasured like nectar.

Where you'll meet it

Sanskrit, all around you

Quotes & mottoes

Subhāṣitas appear on school walls, in speeches and on greeting cards across India — “विद्या ददाति विनयम्” (knowledge gives humility) is one you may already know. Learning a few lets you understand and share them correctly.

Reading any verb

लट् लकार endings (-ति, -न्ति, -आमः, -सि…) appear in nearly every Sanskrit sentence. Once you know them, you can tell who is doing an action just from the verb ending.

A habit for life

The “daily nectar” idea is a study skill: a few minutes of reading each day compounds. Many students keep a small diary of one new subhāṣita a week.

Check yourself

Competency quiz

A mix of vocabulary, grammar (लट् लकार) and comprehension — MCQ, assertion–reason and a case study — testing whether you can use the ideas, not just recall them.

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