Shloka 16
अध्याय १२८: शिव–उमा संवादः — तिलोत्तमा, श्मशान-मेध्यता, तथा चातुर्वर्ण्य-धर्मः
Chapter 128: Śiva–Umā Dialogue—Tilottamā, the Ritual Valence of the Śmaśāna, and the Fourfold Duty-Code
प्रज्ञासम्भावितो नूनमप्रजञ्जैरुपसंहित: । हीयमानो$सि दुर्वत्तैस्तेनासि हरिण: कृश:
prajñāsambhāvito nūnam aprajñajñair upasaṁhitaḥ | hīyamāno 'si durvṛttais tenāsi hariṇaḥ kṛśaḥ ||
Dijo el brahmán: «Sin duda eres digno de honor por tu inteligencia depurada; y, sin embargo, estás rodeado de hombres sin discernimiento. Al verte continuamente disminuido por el desprecio de los malvados, te has vuelto delgado y pálido como un ciervo, consumido por esa misma inquietud».
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
True worth (prajñā) may be ignored or mocked by the ignorant and the immoral; one should recognize that social contempt can cause inner distress and physical decline, and thus cultivate steadiness rather than being consumed by others’ judgments.
A Brāhmaṇa addresses someone of evident intelligence, observing that despite being deserving of respect, he is ridiculed by the unwise and slighted by the wicked; the speaker explains the person’s deer-like thinness as the result of worry and humiliation.