Shloka 10

अव्यक्तकालमान-निर्णयः

Measures of Time from the Unmanifest; Creation, Elements, and the Primacy of Mind

Devanagari script

परश्रेदेनमतिवादबाणै- भुशं विध्येच्छम एवेह कार्य: । संरोष्यमाण: प्रतिहृष्यते यः स आदत्ते सुकृतं वै परस्य

Transliteration

paraśreḍenātivādabāṇaiḥ bhṛśaṃ vidhyeccham eveha kāryaḥ | saṃroṣyamāṇaḥ pratihṛṣyate yaḥ sa ādattē sukṛtaṃ vai parasya ||

Translation

Dijo el Haṃsa: Aunque alguien hiera una y otra vez a este sabio con las agudas flechas de palabras ásperas y desmedidas, aquí debe obrar únicamente con serena contención. Pues quien, aun cuando los otros se encolerizan, permanece alegre e inconmovible al responder, en verdad toma para sí el mérito del otro.

Word by Word

• {'paraśreḍena': 'by another person

• by someone else (instrumental sense)', 'ativāda': 'excessive/overbearing speech

• abusive talk', 'bāṇaiḥ': 'with arrows (metaphor for words)', 'bhṛśam': 'greatly

• intensely', 'vidhyet': 'should pierce/strike (as with a weapon)', 'iha': 'here

• in this world/this situation', 'kāryaḥ': 'what should be done

• the proper course of action', 'saṃroṣyamāṇaḥ': 'when (the other is) becoming angry

• being provoked into anger', 'pratihṛṣyate': 'rejoices in return

• remains glad/pleasant', 'yaḥ': 'who (the person that)', 'saḥ': 'he (that person)', 'ādattē': 'takes

• receives', 'sukṛtam': 'merit

• spiritual credit', 'parasya': 'of the other

• belonging to another person', 'śānti': 'calmness

Speaker

हंस उवाच

Characters & Entities

• हंस (Haṃsa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Do not retaliate when attacked by harsh words; maintaining calm, even cheerful restraint in the face of another’s anger is presented as a powerful ethical victory that accrues merit to the patient person.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and self-mastery, the Haṃsa speaks as a moral teacher, using the metaphor of ‘arrows of speech’ to advise how a wise person should respond to verbal injury and provocation.