Tailad Rakshed Jalad Rakshed — Complete Lyrics
तैलाद्रक्षेज्जलाद्रक्षेत्
Sanskrit text with English transliteration and translation
तैलाद्रक्षेज्जलाद्रक्षेद्रक्षेच्छिथिलबन्धनात्।
मूर्खहस्ते न दातव्यमेवं वदति पुस्तकम्॥
tailād rakṣej jalād rakṣed rakṣec chithila-bandhanāt।
mūrkha-haste na dātavyam evaṁ vadati pustakam॥
Protect me from oil, protect me from water, protect me from a loose binding, and do not hand me to a fool — thus speaks the book. In this charming verse the book itself voices the four ways it must be cared for, the last being the most important: knowledge should never be entrusted to one unworthy of it.
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