Shloka 17
Adhyāya 115: On Restraint Under Verbal Provocation in the Assembly (सभायां आक्रोश-सहिष्णुता)
मनुष्यशालावृकमप्रशान्तं जनापवादे सतत निविष्टम् । मातड्मुन्मत्तमिवोन्नदन्तं त्यजेत तं श्वानमिवातिरौद्रम्
bhīṣma uvāca | manuṣyaśālāvṛkam apraśāntaṁ janāpavāde satataṁ niviṣṭam | mātaṅga-unmattam ivonnadantaṁ tyajeta taṁ śvānām ivātiraudram ||
Bhishma dit : Celui qui s’absorbe sans cesse à dénigrer les gens est comme un loup logé dans la maison qu’est le corps humain : toujours sans repos. Tel un éléphant ivre il beugle, et tel un chien féroce il se rue pour mordre. L’homme noble doit l’abandonner entièrement.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Persistent slander is portrayed as predatory and destructive; the ethical instruction is that a virtuous person should avoid and abandon those who habitually malign others, since such company undermines peace, character, and dharma.
In Bhishma’s discourse on righteous conduct in the Shanti Parva, he warns about a particular harmful type of person—the habitual slanderer—using vivid animal similes (wolf, mad elephant, savage dog) to stress the danger and the need for deliberate avoidance.