तातेन कथितं, पुत्र, पत्रं लिख मम आज्ञया |
न तेन लिखितं पत्रं, पितुः आज्ञा न लङ्घिता ||
It was told by the father, " Son, by my order, write a letter."
By him was not written a letter, the father's order was not disregarded.
There are lovely subhashita-cum-riddles like these in our literature.
The clue is to play around with the words:
In this particular subhashita, the clue is in the combination of words न तेन |
Put them together and you get नतेन which means "with humility."
Now read the subhashita again.... isn't it lovely?