Shloka 8
अव्यक्तकालमान-निर्णयः
Measures of Time from the Unmanifest; Creation, Elements, and the Primacy of Mind
नारुन्तुदः स्यान्न नृशंसवादी न हीनत: परमभ्याददीत । ययास्य वाचा पर उद्विजेत नतां वदेद्रुषतीं पापलोक्याम्
nārun-tudaḥ syān na nṛśaṃsa-vādī na hīnataḥ param abhyādadīta | yayāsya vācā para udvijeta na tāṃ vaded ruṣatīṃ pāpa-lokyām ||
हंस ने कहा—किसी के मर्म पर आघात न करे, न क्रूर वचन बोले। नीच बुद्धि वाले से उच्च उपदेश न ग्रहण करे। और ऐसी वाणी—जो दूसरों को उद्विग्न करे, जो कठोर, अमंगलमयी और पापलोक की ओर ले जाने वाली हो—उसे न बोले।
हंस उवाच
Educational Q&A
Guard speech as a primary instrument of dharma: do not wound others, do not speak cruelly, avoid taking lofty instruction from a morally base source, and refrain from uttering words that cause agitation and lead to sin.
In Śānti Parva’s didactic setting, the Haṃsa delivers a compact ethical rule about right conduct, focusing especially on restraint in speech and discernment regarding from whom one receives spiritual instruction.