Shloka 10
Ārjava, Satya, and the Virocana–Sudhanvan Exemplum
Udyoga-parva 35
यदि सन्त॑ सेवति यद्यसन्तं तपस्विनं यदि वा स्तेनमेव । वासो यथा रड्रवशं प्रयाति तथा स तेषां वशमभ्युपैति
yadi santaṁ sevati yady asantaṁ tapasvinaṁ yadi vā stenam eva | vāso yathā raṅgavaśaṁ prayāti tathā sa teṣāṁ vaśam abhyupaiti ||
ハンサは言った。布が染められた色をそのまま帯びるように、人もまた、善人に仕えようと悪人に仕えようと、苦行者に仕えようと、たとえ盗賊に仕えようとも、その影響下に入り、その性格に染め上げられる。
हंस उवाच
Educational Q&A
One’s character is strongly shaped by whom one serves and keeps company with; association acts like dye on cloth, imparting the qualities—good or bad—of those attended.
Haṁsa delivers a moral instruction using a vivid simile: as cloth becomes the color it is dyed, a person becomes influenced by the nature of those he serves—whether virtuous, wicked, ascetic, or criminal.