Vedanta Desika wrote a work called Subhashita Nivi. The phrase ‘Subhashita Nivi’ was first used by Murari kavi, in his drama Anargha Raghavam, wherein he says that Valmiki’s Ramayana is a Subhashita Nivi. The Ramayana does abound in subhashitas — wise sayings. Reading the entire Ramayana to discern subhashitas is a difficult task, which not many are capable of. But Desika’s Subhashita Nivi gives wise advice to us through small slokas, elaborated V.S. Vijayaraghavan, in a discourse. Desika says that he and the Lord have one thing in common — their forgetfulness. If we do one good act, the Lord forgets all our wicked acts. As for Desika himself, the Acharya says that if he should face even a minor setback in life, then he forgets all the good that God has given him. So, if the Lord is the first among the good (sujana), he (Desika) is the first among the durjana (the wicked ones). The verse shows Desika’s humility in referring to himself in such a manner. But the lesson is for the rest of us, who have the tendency to hate the Lord the moment we suffer a little, forgetting instantly all the blessings that God has showered on us in the past. Desika says in another verse, that his subhashitas cannot be stolen by other kavis and passed off as their own. The subhashitas bear the unmistakable stamp of Desika, and so none can claim them as their own. They are intended for the welfare of the good.
In another verse, Desika talks about the egotist, who thinks that everything centres round him. He is like the man who thinks that when he closes his eyes, the Sun disappears. Even if you close your ears, a crow will not sound like a cuckoo. A child may spin on its heels, and imagine that the world is spinning with him. One can aim angry punches at the sky, but the sky is not hurt.