Shloka 11
न लज्जसे कथं वक्तुं समितिं प्राप्प शोभनाम् । कथं च शतधा जिद्ला न ते मूर्धा च दीर्यते
na lajjase kathaṁ vaktuṁ samitiṁ prāpya śobhanām | kathaṁ ca śatadhā jīrṇā na te mūrdhā ca dīryate ||
Sañjaya dit : «Comment n’as-tu pas honte de parler ainsi, après être parvenu à cette assemblée illustre ? Et comment ta tête, qui devrait se briser en cent morceaux, ne se fend-elle pas ?»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames unethical or shameless speech as a moral failing: in an honorable assembly (or solemn public setting), one must speak with integrity and accountability; otherwise, one deserves censure for lacking shame and self-restraint.
Sañjaya delivers a sharp rebuke to an unnamed interlocutor, questioning how that person can speak without shame in a distinguished gathering and how their head does not ‘split’ from the weight of disgrace—an idiom for extreme moral reproach.