Shloka 16
Book 12, Chapter 93 — Vāmadeva’s Counsel to King Vasumanā on Dharmic Kingship (धर्मप्रधान-राजधर्मोपदेशः)
अथ पापकृतं बुद्धया न च पश्यत्यबुद्धिमान् । अकीर्याभिसमायुक्तो भूयो नरकमश्ञुते,जो बुद्धिहीन राजा पाप करके भी अपनी बुद्धिके द्वारा अपनेको पापी नहीं समझता, वह इस लोकमें अपकीर्तिसे कलंकित हो परलोकमें नरकका भागी होता है
atha pāpakṛtaṃ buddhyā na ca paśyaty abuddhimān | akīrtyābhisamāyukto bhūyo narakam aśnute ||
Dann erkennt der Unverständige—im Licht seines eigenen Urteils—das Böse nicht, das er getan hat. Von Schande in dieser Welt befleckt, wird er in der nächsten erneut Teilhaber der Hölle.
वामदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Without buddhi (moral discernment), a person fails to acknowledge his own wrongdoing; this denial leads to akīrti (public disgrace) in this life and naraka (painful post-mortem consequence) thereafter.
Vāmadeva is instructing on ethical governance and personal responsibility, warning that a ruler or person who commits sin yet does not recognize it through discernment becomes socially dishonored and incurs severe consequences after death.