Shloka 12
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 106: Pūrva-Diśa Praśaṃsā
Praise and Primacy of the Eastern Quarter
सो<हं पाप: कृतघ्नश्न कृपणश्चानृतोडपि च | गुरोर्य: कृतकार्य: संस्तत् करोमि न भाषितम्,“मैं पापी, कृतघ्न, कृपण और मिथ्यावादी हूँ, जिसने गुरुसे तो अपना काम करा लिया, परंतु स्वयं जो उन्हें देनेकी प्रतिज्ञा की है, उसकी पूर्ति नहीं कर पा रहा हूँ
so’haṁ pāpaḥ kṛtaghnaś ca kṛpaṇaś cānṛto’pi ca | guror yaḥ kṛtakāryaḥ san tat karomi na bhāṣitam ||
Nārada said: “I am sinful—ungrateful, miserly, and even a speaker of falsehood. Having had my own purpose accomplished through my teacher, I still fail to do what I had promised to him.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
One must not become kṛtaghna (ungrateful) after receiving help—especially from a guru. Dharma requires truthfulness and the fulfillment of one’s spoken pledge; failing to repay a benefactor is treated as a serious ethical fault.
Nārada openly condemns his own conduct: he has benefited from his teacher’s assistance, yet he has not carried out the repayment or promised act he had verbally pledged. The verse frames this as a moral lapse involving ingratitude, miserliness, and untruth.