Shloka 15
Adhyāya 115: On Restraint Under Verbal Provocation in the Assembly (सभायां आक्रोश-सहिष्णुता)
इसलिये बुद्धिमान् पुरुषको चाहिये कि वह वैसे पापपूर्ण विचारवाले पुरुषको तत्काल त्याग दे। वह कुत्तेके मांसके समान साधु पुरुषोंके लिये सदा ही त्याज्य है ।।
parivādaṁ bruvāṇo hi durātmā vai mahājane | prakāśayati doṣāṁs tu sarpaḥ phaṇam ivocchritam ||
Diz Bhīṣma: “O homem de intenção perversa que anda entre o povo proferindo calúnias deve ser abandonado de imediato pelos sábios. Ao divulgar as faltas alheias, ele expõe abertamente a própria malícia—como uma serpente que ergue o capelo para que todos a vejam.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
One should promptly abandon habitual slanderers; their public fault-finding reveals inner wickedness and undermines dharma and social trust.
In Bhishma’s instruction on righteous conduct in the Shanti Parva, he warns that a person who spreads slander in public exposes his own depravity—illustrated by the image of a cobra raising its hood.