Shloka 26
Adhyāya 287 — Janaka’s Inquiry on Śreyas, Abhayadāna, and Asaṅga
Non-attachment
निर्गुणास्त्वेव भूयिष्ठमात्मसम्भाविता नरा: । दोषैरन्यान् गुणवत: क्षिपन्त्यात्मगुणक्षयात्
nirguṇās tveva bhūyiṣṭham ātma-sambhāvitā narāḥ | doṣair anyān guṇavataḥ kṣipanty ātma-guṇa-kṣayāt ||
ナーラダは言った。「真の徳に乏しい者ほど、かえって自らの偉大さをしきりに言い立てる。己の内に徳の欠けを見て、徳ある人々の瑕疵をあげつらい、彼らを引きずり下ろそうとするのだ。ゆえに、他者をそしって自分の優越を立てようとしてはならない。自らの卓越は、空言ではなく、自身の資質と行いによって示されるべきである。」
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
True excellence is shown by one’s own virtues, not by self-praise or by disparaging others. People lacking merit often attack the virtuous to mask their own deficiency.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on righteous conduct, Nārada delivers a moral observation about human behavior: the unvirtuous tend toward self-conceit and fault-finding, while dharma calls for restraint and proving worth through conduct.