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 ||
नारद उवाच—निर्गुणा एव भूयिष्ठमात्मसम्भाविता नराः। स्वेषु गुणेषु वैकल्यमालोक्य गुणवतां जनान् दोषैः क्षिपन्ति। तस्मादन्यान् निन्दित्वा स्वश्रेष्ठतां न साधयेत्; यदस्ति स्वगुणैरेव तत् प्रकाशयेत्, न तु वाचाल्येन।
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.