Shloka 343
वक्तुम्हसि वक्तव्य: कस्मात् त्वं परुषाण्यथ । जब तू स्वयं ही चाण्डालके समान ऐसा पाप-कर्म करके निन्दाका पात्र बन गया है, तब दूसरेको कटु वचन सुनानेका कैसे अधिकारी हो सकता है?
vaktum asi vaktavyaḥ kasmāt tvaṃ paruṣāṇy atha | yadā tvaṃ svayam eva cāṇḍālaka-samo 'si pāpa-karma kṛtvā nindā-pātraṃ jātaḥ, tadā 'nyān prati kaṭu-vacanaṃ vaktuṃ katham adhikārī bhavasi ||
Dhrishtadyumna said: “How can you presume to speak harshly to others? For when you yourself, by committing a sinful deed, have become like a caṇḍāla and thus a fit object of reproach, by what right can you hurl bitter words at anyone else?”
धृष्टह्युम्न उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral authority to criticize depends on one’s own conduct: a person stained by wrongdoing loses the ethical standing to rebuke others with harsh speech.
Dhṛṣṭadyumna rebukes an opponent (or interlocutor) for speaking bitterly, arguing that since the other has committed a condemnable act and become blameworthy, he has no right to insult others.