Shloka 16
Book 12, Chapter 93 — Vāmadeva’s Counsel to King Vasumanā on Dharmic Kingship (धर्मप्रधान-राजधर्मोपदेशः)
अथ पापकृतं बुद्धया न च पश्यत्यबुद्धिमान् । अकीर्याभिसमायुक्तो भूयो नरकमश्ञुते
atha pāpakṛtaṃ buddhyā na ca paśyaty abuddhimān | akīrtyābhisamāyukto bhūyo narakam aśnute ||
Alors, l’homme dépourvu d’intelligence ne reconnaît pas—à la lumière de son propre discernement—le mal qu’il a commis. Souillé par l’opprobre en ce monde, il redevient, dans l’autre, un ayant-part au séjour infernal.
वामदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Without buddhi (moral discernment), a person fails to acknowledge his own wrongdoing; this denial leads to akīrti (public disgrace) in this life and naraka (painful post-mortem consequence) thereafter.
Vāmadeva is instructing on ethical governance and personal responsibility, warning that a ruler or person who commits sin yet does not recognize it through discernment becomes socially dishonored and incurs severe consequences after death.