Shloka 31
Adhyāya 287 — Janaka’s Inquiry on Śreyas, Abhayadāna, and Asaṅga
Non-attachment
न लोके दीप्यते मूर्ख: केवलात्मप्रशंसया । अपि चापिहित: श्वश्रे कृतविद्य: प्रकाशते
na loke dīpyate mūrkhaḥ kevalātmapraśaṃsayā | api cāpihitaḥ śvaśre kṛtavidyaḥ prakāśate ||
ನಾರದನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ಈ ಲೋಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಮೂರ್ಖನು ಕೇವಲ ಆತ್ಮಪ್ರಶಂಸೆಯಿಂದ ನಿಜವಾಗಿ ಪ್ರಕಾಶಿಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಆದರೆ ಯಥಾರ್ಥವಾಗಿ ವಿದ್ಯೆಯನ್ನು ಸಂಪಾದಿಸಿದವನು ಅತ್ತೆಯು ಮುಚ್ಚಿಟ್ಟಂತೆಯೇ ಅಡಗಿದ್ದರೂ ತನ್ನ ಗುಣದಿಂದಲೇ ಪ್ರಕಟನಾಗುತ್ತಾನೆ.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Self-advertisement cannot create real excellence: foolishness is not transformed by boasting. Genuine learning and competence naturally become known, even when circumstances try to keep a person in the background.
Nārada delivers a moral observation in the Śānti Parva’s instruction-oriented setting, contrasting empty self-praise with the self-evident nature of true education and capability, illustrated through a domestic metaphor of someone being ‘kept under cover’ by a mother-in-law.