Shloka 7
Adhyāya 115: On Restraint Under Verbal Provocation in the Assembly (सभायां आक्रोश-सहिष्णुता)
वह मूर्ख तो उस पापकर्मके द्वारा सदा अपनी प्रशंसा करते हुए कहता है कि मैंने अमुक सम्मानित पुरुषको भरी सभामें ऐसी-ऐसी बातें सुनायीं कि वह लाजसे गड़ गया, उसका मुख सूख गया और वह अधमरा-सा हो गया, इस प्रकार निन्दनीय कर्म करके वह अपनी प्रशंसा करता है और तनिक भी लजाता नहीं है ।।
bhīṣma uvāca | sa mūrkhas tu tena pāpakarmaṇā sadā svapraśaṃsāṃ kurvan vadati—“mayā amukaṃ satpuruṣaṃ pūrṇāyāṃ sabhāyāṃ tathā-tathā vacobhiḥ śrāvitaḥ, yathā sa lajjayā namraḥ, mukhaśoṣaṃ gataḥ, ardhamṛta iva ca jātaḥ” iti | evaṃ nindyaṃ karma kṛtvā svayam eva praśaṃsate, na ca kiñcid api lajjate || upeksitavyo yatnena tādṛśaḥ puruṣādhamaḥ | yad yad brūyād alpamatis tat tad asya sahed budhaḥ ||
Bhishma said: A fool, having committed a sinful act, keeps praising himself and boasts, “In the full assembly I spoke such-and-such words to that honorable man that he was overwhelmed with shame, his face went dry, and he became as if half-dead.” Having done what is blameworthy, he celebrates himself and feels not the slightest embarrassment. Such a lowest of men should be deliberately ignored. Whatever an empty-minded person may say, a wise man should endure it.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Do not engage with shameless, boastful wrongdoers who take pride in humiliating others; instead, consciously ignore them, and practice kṣamā (forbearance) by enduring whatever such small-minded people say.
In Bhishma’s instruction on righteous conduct, he describes a fool who boasts about publicly shaming an honorable man in an assembly. Bhishma then advises the listener that such a person should be avoided and that the wise should tolerate his words rather than escalate conflict.