Shloka 10
Ārjava, Satya, and the Virocana–Sudhanvan Exemplum
Udyoga-parva 35
यदि सन्त॑ सेवति यद्यसन्तं तपस्विनं यदि वा स्तेनमेव । वासो यथा रड्रवशं प्रयाति तथा स तेषां वशमभ्युपैति
yadi santaṁ sevati yady asantaṁ tapasvinaṁ yadi vā stenam eva | vāso yathā raṅgavaśaṁ prayāti tathā sa teṣāṁ vaśam abhyupaiti ||
Haṁsa sprach: Wie ein Tuch die Farbe annimmt, in die man es taucht, so gerät auch der Mensch, wenn er dem Guten oder dem Bösen dient, einem Asketen oder gar einem Dieb, unter ihren Einfluss und wird von ihrem Wesen geprägt.
हंस उवाच
Educational Q&A
One’s character is strongly shaped by whom one serves and keeps company with; association acts like dye on cloth, imparting the qualities—good or bad—of those attended.
Haṁsa delivers a moral instruction using a vivid simile: as cloth becomes the color it is dyed, a person becomes influenced by the nature of those he serves—whether virtuous, wicked, ascetic, or criminal.