Panchatantra, introduction, tr. Dermot Killingley,
Beginning Sanskrit, Vol. I (Newcastle upon Tyne: Grevatt & Grevatt, n.d.), p. x:
Book-learning is endless, life is short, and obstacles are many. We should keep
to what is essential, like swans extracting milk from water.
The same, tr. Arthur W. Ryder:
Since verbal science has no final end,
Since life is short, and obstacles impend,
Let central facts be picked and firmly fixed,
As swans extract the milk with water mixed.
The same, tr. Chandra Rajan:
Your Majesty, it is true that life is short, and it is beset by many
obstacles. Knowledge knows no bounds, and it takes years to
acquire it. Therefore, it is held that the essentials of knowledge have
to be extracted and grasped, just as the noble bird, the swan,
extracts the milk from the water it is mixed in.