Words Well Worth 49: Not What We See, How We See Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

Very same thing they all may see,
Three-fold's still seen the scenery!
Skeleton's seen by ascetic,
Thing of desire by romantic,
And a huge chunk of flesh to eat—
Be how hungry wolf may it treat.
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Transliteration of the subhāśhita along with the meanings of Sanskrit words is given as under:

ekah eva padārthah tu tridhā bhavati vikśhitah |
kuņapah kāminī māmsam yogibhih kāmibhih shvabhih ||

ekah eva: only but one, one alone
padārthah: a thing material
tu: but, yet
tridhā: three fold, three ways
bhavati: becomes
vikśhitah: appearance, how it looks, is observed, regarded
kuņapah: a skeleton, a life-less body, cadaver, corpse
kāminī : object of desire, a bewitching/beautiful woman, a temptress
māmsam: a piece of flesh (to eat)
yogibhih: by an ascetic, by a yogin
kāmibhih: by a romantic, by a desirous/lustful man
shvabhih: by a wolf, dog

A lovely lass is seen by three. How the three perceive what they see? Quite differently: An ascetic sage will see her as mere body skeleton;
We are in a world of perception, how people feel, not the truth or reality.

Topic: truth, perception