Don’t Feed the Fire: The Power of Forgiveness, Patience & Inner Peace
क्षमाशस्त्रं करे यस्य दुर्जनः किं करिष्यति ।
अतृणे पतितो वह्निः स्वयमेवोपशाम्यति ॥
Word-to-word meaning:
Sanskrit word | English meaning |
क्षमा (kṣamā) | forgiveness / patience |
शस्त्रम् (śastram) | weapon |
करे (kare) | in the hand |
यस्य (yasya) | whose / of whom |
दुर्जनः (durjanaḥ) | a wicked/bad person |
किम् (kim) | what |
करिष्यति (kariṣyati) | will do / can do |
अतृणे (atṛṇe) | where there is no grass / without grass |
पतितः (patitaḥ) | fallen / having fallen |
वह्निः (vahniḥ) | fire |
स्वयम् (svayam) | by itself |
एव (eva) | itself / indeed |
उपशाम्यति (upaśāmyati) | becomes extinguished / dies down |
Literal meaning
“For one who has forgiveness as a weapon in his hand, what can a wicked person do? Just as fire that falls where there is no grass extinguishes itself, so does the harm of a wicked person against one who possesses forgiveness.”
Deeper sense
The verse emphasizes the power of forgiveness and patience. A person who responds to wrongdoing with forgiveness does not provide the anger or conflict with fuel to continue—just as fire without grass or fuel eventually extinguishes itself.
This profound thought beautifully resonates with the teaching attributed to Shri Siddheshwar Swamiji. The two teachings convey a very similar underlying message, although they use different imagery and emphasize slightly different aspects.
The saying attributed to Shri Siddheshwar Swamiji
“ಕುದಿಯುವವರು ಕುದಿಯಲಿ, ಉರಿಯುವವರು ಉರಿಯಲಿ, ನಿನ್ನ ಪಾಡಿಗೆ ನೀನಿರು.ಕುದಿಯುವವರು ಆವಿಯಾಗುತ್ತಾರೆ, ಉರಿಯುವವರು ಬೂದಿಯಾಗುತ್ತಾರೆ.”
A natural English rendering is:
“Let those who boil, boil; let those who burn, burn. You remain peacefully on your own path. Those who keep boiling will eventually become vapour, and those who keep burning will eventually become ashes.”
The common message
The central idea is not to become fuel for another person's anger, hostility or negativity.
Sanskrit verse | Siddheshwar Swamiji's saying |
क्षमा — forgiveness is the weapon | ನಿನ್ನ ಪಾಡಿಗೆ ನೀನಿರು — remain on your own path |
Don't give the wicked person's actions additional fuel | Don't react to those who are angry or hostile |
Fire without fuel extinguishes itself | Anger and hostility eventually consume themselves |
अतृणे पतितो वह्निः — fire without grass | ಕುದಿಯುವವರು ಆವಿಯಾಗುತ್ತಾರೆ — those who keep boiling become vapour |
An important subtle difference
The Sanskrit verse specifically praises क्षमा (kṣamā)—forgiveness/patience. Its metaphor is that fire needs fuel, and without fuel it dies down.
Swamiji's saying goes a little further philosophically: you should remain undisturbed and continue your own path instead of becoming entangled in another person's anger. The "vapour" and "ashes" imagery emphasizes that anger ultimately exhausts the person who carries it.
So, in essence:
“Do not answer anger with anger. Do not provide fuel to hostility. Remain patient, continue your path, and let negativity exhaust itself.”
That is a very close philosophical parallel to the Sanskrit verse, even though the Kannada saying is not a literal translation of the Sanskrit shloka.
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