Shloka 3
Adhyāya 115: On Restraint Under Verbal Provocation in the Assembly (सभायां आक्रोश-सहिष्णुता)
अरुष्यन् क्रुश्यमानस्थ सुकृतं नाम विन्दति । दुष्कृतं चात्मनो मर्षी रुष्यत्येवापमार्दि वै
aruṣyan kruśyamānaḥ sukṛtaṃ nāma vindati | duṣkṛtaṃ cātmano marṣī ruṣyaty evāpamārdi vai ||
Bhishma said: “One who, though abused, does not grow angry, comes to possess the merit (puṇya) of the abuser. The forbearing person, by enduring, casts off his own demerit; indeed, it is the angry reviler who ends up bearing the stain.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Forbearance is ethically powerful: if one does not respond with anger to abuse, one gains merit while one’s own demerit is neutralized; the angry reviler accrues the moral fault.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma advises Yudhishthira on self-control and righteous conduct, using the case of enduring insults without anger to illustrate how patience protects and elevates one’s moral standing.