Shloka 11
Nārāyaṇasya Guhya-nāmāni Niruktāni (Etymologies of Nārāyaṇa’s Secret Epithets) / नारायणस्य गुह्यनामानि निरुक्तानि
नित्यं क्रोधात् तपो रक्षेच्छ़ियं रक्षेच्च मत्सरात् । विद्यां मानावमानाभ्यामात्मानं तु प्रमादतः,मनुष्यको चाहिये कि वह सदा तपको क्रोधसे, लक्ष्मीको डाहसे, विद्याको मानापमानसे और अपने-आपको प्रमादसे बचावे
nityaṁ krodhāt tapo rakṣec chriyaṁ rakṣec ca matsarāt | vidyāṁ mānāvamānābhyām ātmānaṁ tu pramādataḥ ||
Narada said: One should always safeguard one’s austerity from anger, protect prosperity from envy, preserve learning from the disturbances of honor and dishonor, and guard one’s very self from heedlessness. The teaching is that inner virtues and achievements are not lost chiefly by external enemies, but by these four inner faults that quietly undo spiritual effort, worldly well-being, and self-mastery.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches vigilant self-guarding: anger destroys austerity, envy corrodes prosperity, obsession with honor/dishonor destabilizes learning, and heedlessness endangers the whole person. Therefore one should treat these inner faults as the primary threats to dharmic life.
Nārada is instructing the listener in Shānti Parva with practical ethical counsel, listing specific inner dangers and what each one undermines, as part of a broader discourse on peace, self-discipline, and sustaining virtue.