Shloka 14
Adhyāya 115: On Restraint Under Verbal Provocation in the Assembly (सभायां आक्रोश-सहिष्णुता)
तस्मात् प्राज्ञो नर: सद्यस्तादृशं॑ पापचेतसम् | वर्जयेत् साधुभिर्वज्य सारमेयामिषं यथा
tasmāt prājño naraḥ sadyas tādṛśaṃ pāpacetasam | varjayet sādhubhir varjyaṃ sārameyāmiṣaṃ yathā ||
Therefore, a wise man should at once avoid a person of such sinful intent—one who is shunned by the good—just as one avoids meat that has been touched by a dog.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that discernment includes promptly distancing oneself from people of corrupt intention; association with the morally tainted is to be avoided as decisively as one avoids something considered impure.
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma in the Shanti Parva, he gives a pointed simile to counsel the listener: a wise person should immediately shun an evil-minded individual rejected by the virtuous, likening such avoidance to rejecting dog-touched meat.