Shloka 12
अव्यक्तकालमान-निर्णयः
Measures of Time from the Unmanifest; Creation, Elements, and the Primacy of Mind
जो जगत्में निन्दा करानेवाले और आवेशमें डालनेके कारण अप्रिय प्रतीत होनेवाले प्रज्वलित क्रोधको रोक लेता है, चित्तमें कोई विकार या दोष नहीं आने देता, प्रसन्न रहता और दूसरोंके दोष नहीं देखता है, वह पुरुष अपने प्रति शत्रुभाव रखनेवाले लोगोंके पुण्य ले लेता है ।।
ākruśyamāno na vadāmi kiñcit kṣamāmy ahaṃ tāḍyamānaś ca nityam | śreṣṭha hy etad yat kṣamām āhur āryāḥ satyaṃ tathaivārjavam ānṛśaṃsyam ||
The Haṃsa says: “Even when I am abused, I do not reply with anything. Even when I am struck, I always forgive. For the noble declare this to be the highest way—patience (forbearance), truthfulness, straightforwardness, and compassion. One who restrains blazing anger that provokes hostility, keeps the mind free from distortion and fault, remains serene, and does not hunt for others’ defects, draws to himself the merit of those who bear enmity toward him.”
हंस उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the highest conduct is to restrain anger and respond to abuse or injury with forgiveness. Such forbearance, joined with truth, integrity, and compassion, protects the mind from fault and is presented as a superior dharmic path.
In Śānti Parva’s ethical instruction, the Haṃsa speaks as a moral teacher, describing his own discipline: he does not retaliate when insulted or harmed, and he upholds the virtues praised by the noble as the best way of life.