Shloka 26

Adhyāya 287 — Janaka’s Inquiry on Śreyas, Abhayadāna, and Asaṅga

Non-attachment

Devanagari script

निर्गुणास्त्वेव भूयिष्ठमात्मसम्भाविता नरा: । दोषैरन्यान्‌ गुणवत: क्षिपन्त्यात्मगुणक्षयात्‌,दूसरोंकी निन्दा करके अपनी श्रेष्ठता सिद्ध करनेका प्रयत्न न करे। साधारण मनुष्योंकी अपेक्षा जो अपनी उत्कृष्टता है, उसे अपने गुणोंद्वारा ही सिद्ध करे (बातोंसे नहीं)। गुणहीन मनुष्य ही अधिकतर अपनी प्रशंसा किया करते हैं। वे अपनेमें गुणोंकी कमी देखकर दूसरे गुणवान्‌ पुरुषोंके गुणोंमें दोष बताकर उनपर आक्षेप किया करते हैं

Transliteration

nirguṇās tveva bhūyiṣṭham ātma-sambhāvitā narāḥ | doṣair anyān guṇavataḥ kṣipanty ātma-guṇa-kṣayāt ||

Translation

Nārada said: Those who are largely devoid of real merit are, in fact, the ones who most often proclaim their own greatness. Seeing the deficiency of virtues within themselves, they try to pull down truly virtuous people by pointing out faults in them. Therefore, one should not attempt to establish one’s superiority by censuring others; whatever excellence one has should be demonstrated through one’s own qualities, not through mere talk.

Word by Word

निर्गुणाःdevoid of qualities

तुbut

एवindeed/only

भूयिष्ठम्mostly/for the most part

आत्मसम्भाविताःself-conceited / self-admiring

नराःmen/people

दोषैःby faults / with faults

अन्यान्others

गुणवतःpossessing qualities / virtuous

क्षिपन्तिthey revile/attack/cast (aspersions on)

आत्मगुणक्षयात्from (their) loss/deficiency of their own qualities

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārada

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True excellence is shown by one’s own virtues, not by self-praise or by disparaging others. People lacking merit often attack the virtuous to mask their own deficiency.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on righteous conduct, Nārada delivers a moral observation about human behavior: the unvirtuous tend toward self-conceit and fault-finding, while dharma calls for restraint and proving worth through conduct.