यथा भूमिस्तथा तोयं, यथा बीजं तथाऽङ्कुरः ।
यथा देशस्तथा भाषा, यथा राजा तथा प्रजा ॥
yathaa bhoomistathaa toyam, yathaa beejam tathaa’nkurah |
yathaa deshastathaa bhaaShaa, yathaa raajaa tathaa prajaa ||
As the land so the [ground] water, as the seed so the sprout. As the region [country] so the language, as the king so the people.
As the land, so the water – The ground water differs from place to place. The mineral content, the medicinal powers are different. Even the contamination! Bottled water is sold as ‘From the Source in the Alps!’. Why does it matter, when it is only H2O? But no, it matters. Different natural water sources have different healing powers, like hot springs. and all because of the particular composition of the land, the earth in that area. There are people who get, or are cured of, skin problems when they move from one place to another. people have solved gray hair, stomach troubles and many such problems by moving to another place. As ‘they’ say – oh, it is in the water! or e.g. In India when someone moves to a new place and gets health issues, people would say ‘the water didn’t suit you.’
As the seed, so the sprout. (and hence tree, fruit etc.) – “As you sow, so shall you reap.” This is also the basis of the karma rule – you get according to your deeds, karma. You only have control on what you do (what seed to choose). There seems to be some confusion among people when they start equating karma and destiny. Karma is your free will, Destiny (or daiva) is the unknown factor you didn’t account for in your planning, simply because it is unknown – no prior signs, not in your control and you didn’t even foresee or plan ahead for it – that is daiva.
As the region, so the language – Here is the classic proverb – When in Rome, do as Romans do. This part says that you should use the local language to get along. You will be surprised how much more you can gain by knowing the local language – be it taking auto-rikshaw (small taxi in india), or out-smarting pesky tourist guides, or just haggling while shopping. Language is a direct product of its culture. So, expand the language to culture, in the saying and you have “As the region, so the culture (to follow)”, i.e. ‘When in Rome, do as Romans do’. Blend in. Don’t stand out as a sore thumb, as arrogant outsider, as a roadblock, blend in. Be part of it. If you move to somewhere, why not be like them – food, clothes, language – enjoy the full experience. Else why move at all?
There are two words used here – bhoomeeh and deshah. while bhoomeeh means earth, land as is (no political connotation), deshah(and pradeshah) mean region. Today they are used synonymously with country or nation. but technically the word for country would be raaShTra or raajya (reign or kingdom). Hence ‘as the region’ implies using all the characteristics of the region – language, clothes, food, medicines etc.
As the king, so the people – People today in democracies think it is the opposite – as the people so the president/prime minister etc. But the first quality of a leader is role model. Traditionally, the Scriptures have always upheld a model of father-children for the king-subjects relation, unheard of in many civilizations. So, just as in the family, children don’t listen to the parents, but watch their every move, the king, leader, boss has to be careful in his conduct to set a good example. In English too, they say – Like father, like son!