Shloka 12
Adhyāya 115: On Restraint Under Verbal Provocation in the Assembly (सभायां आक्रोश-सहिष्णुता)
प्रत्यक्ष गुणवादी यः परोक्षे चापि निन्दक: । स मानव: श्ववल्लोके नष्टलोकपरावर:
pratyakṣa-guṇavādī yaḥ parokṣe cāpi nindakaḥ | sa mānavaḥ śva-valloke naṣṭa-loka-parāvaraḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “A man who praises another’s virtues to his face, yet criticizes him behind his back, is like a dog in this world; for him, both this world and the next are ruined.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma condemns duplicity in speech: praising someone to their face while slandering them in their absence is morally degrading and leads to loss of well-being in both this life and the next.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and right conduct, Bhīṣma advises on ethical speech, warning Yudhiṣṭhira against hypocrisy and backbiting by comparing such a person to a dog and stating the spiritual and social consequences.