Shloka 25

महाभिष-गङ्गा-दर्शनं वसूनां शापकथनं च

Mahābhiṣa Encounters Gaṅgā; The Vasus Explain Their Curse

Devanagari script

न मानमान्यो मुदमाददीत न संतापं प्राप्तुयाच्चावमानात्‌ । सनन्‍्तः सतः पूजयन्तीह लोके नासाधव: साधुबुद्धिं लभन्ते,विद्वान पुरुष सम्मानित होनेपर अधिक आनन्दित न हो और अपमानित होनेपर संतप्त न हो। इस लोकमें संत पुरुष ही सत्पुरुषोंका आदर करते हैं। दुष्ट पुरुषोंको “यह सत्पुरुष है' ऐसी बुद्धि प्राप्त ही नहीं होती

Transliteration

aṣṭaka uvāca |

na mānamānyo mudam_toggle?ādādīta na santāpaṃ prāptuyāccāvamānāt |

santaḥ sataḥ pūjayantīha loke nāsādhavaḥ sādhubuddhiṃ labhante ||

Translation

Aṣṭaka said: “A wise person should not become excessively elated when honored, nor fall into distress when insulted. In this world, it is the truly good who honor the good; the wicked do not even gain the discernment to recognize, ‘This is a virtuous person.’”

Word by Word

• {'māna': 'honor, respect', 'amānya / avamāna': 'disrespect, insult, humiliation', 'muda / mudam': 'joy, gladness', 'ādādīta': 'should take/accept

• should adopt (here: should not take up excessive joy)', 'santāpa': 'distress, grief, inner burning', 'prāptu(yāt)': 'should attain/come to (here: should not come to distress)', 'santaḥ': 'the good, the virtuous, the saintly', 'sataḥ': 'the good/true people

• virtuous persons', 'pūjayanti': 'they honor, revere', 'iha loke': 'here in this world', 'asādhavaḥ': 'the unvirtuous, wicked people', 'sādhu-buddhi': 'the understanding/discernment that someone is a good person'}

Speaker

अष्टक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• अष्टक (Aṣṭaka)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Maintain inner balance: do not be inflated by honor or crushed by insult. True goodness recognizes and honors goodness, while the wicked lack the moral discernment to identify virtue.

What is happening in the narrative?

Aṣṭaka is speaking a moral reflection, emphasizing how a wise person should respond to social praise and blame, and noting that only the virtuous properly honor the virtuous.