Shloka 17
साम्ब-हरणम्, बलदेवस्य रोषः, हस्तिनापुर-आकर्षणम्
गर्वम् आरोपिता यूयं समानासनभोजनैः को दोषो भवतां नीतिर् यत् प्रीत्या नावलोकिता
garvam āropitā yūyaṃ samānāsanabhojanaiḥ ko doṣo bhavatāṃ nītir yat prītyā nāvalokitā
You have been puffed up with pride because you were treated as equals, sharing the same seat and the same food. If you were not regarded with affection, what fault is there in your conduct—what rule of propriety has been broken?
Uncertain from single-verse extract (likely a rebuke spoken within a narrative episode recounted by Sage Parāśara to Maitreya).
Speaker: Parasara
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: revealing
Avatara: Krishna
Purpose: Krishna descends to regulate power through dharma, exposing pride born of privilege and restoring right relationship among rulers.
Leela: Dharma-upadesa
Dharma Restored: Nīti (propriety), humility, and affectionate regard aligned with dharma rather than ego.
Concept: Familiarity and equal honor should mature into affection and humility, not pride that blinds one to nīti.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Treat shared privilege (access, status, intimacy) as a responsibility; check entitlement and cultivate respectful affection in speech and conduct.
Vishishtadvaita: Ethical order (nīti/dharma) is a mode of service to Bhagavān’s world; pride is a distortion of the self’s proper dependence (śeṣatva).
Vishnu Form: Krishna
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
This verse frames pride as something that can arise even from honor and equality (sharing seat and food), warning that social privilege can distort judgment and dharmic behavior.
Through pointed dialogue and rebuke, the text tests whether one’s ‘nīti’ is rooted in humility and affection rather than status-consciousness and self-importance.
Even when Vishnu is not named, the Purāṇa’s moral teaching serves the larger Vaishnava vision: dharma and right disposition sustain the divinely ordered world governed by the Supreme Reality, Vishnu.