Meaning of “Angena Gatram”
If your feed is overtaken by this audio of our PM Shri Narendra Modiji reciting a Sanskrit shloka, then instead of cracking jokes, let’s use this opportunity to understand what it means…
So this audio is from a 2022 clip, in which he had attended the “All India District Legal Services Authority Meet” (AIDLSA), in which he quoted a सुभाषित, which is the OG Sanskrit version of the wise sayings or quotes that you recited in the school’s morning assembling.
It doesn’t have a specific author but is attributed to our wise gurus & sages of ancient times. The one Modi ji references goes like -
अङ्गेन गात्रं नयनेन वक्त्रं न्यायेन राज्यं लवणेन भोज्यं।
धर्मेण हीनं खलु जीवितं च न राजते चन्द्रमसा विना निशा॥
Transliterated to “aṅgena gātraṃ nayanena vaktraṃ nyāyena rājyaṃ lavaṇena bhojyaṃ | dharmeṇa hīnaṃ khalu jīvitaṃ ca na rājate candramasā vinā niśā ||
It means, “Just as a body needs its limbs, a face its eyes, and food its salt, similarly a nation needs justice to be complete. And without righteousness (धर्म / dharma), life is like a moonless night - lacking beauty and fulfilment.”
This is such a beautiful teaching of our Sanatan sanskriti, urging for the need to continue building a stronger law system, justice, equality for all living beings in our country. The word “Lavana” refers to salt over here & nothing else.
Case in point, there is nothing lewd or indecent he said, he pronounced it perfectly, too, but of course, to spread misinformation, some folks on the internet have turned it into a misquoted vulgar joke.
But you know what? I’m actually glad people are sharing it, even as a joke or meme, because through the medium, at least our beautiful Sanskrit language is falling on our own ears.
You can find many such concise, value-teaching poems in the compilation book “Mahā-Subhāṣita-Saṃgraha.”
And if you want to actually read our texts of our Dharma, and understand them deeply, I have compiled this free library of Sanskrit-to-English books PDFs here, so just DM “library” & I’ll send you the link.