Shloka 16
Adhyāya 115: On Restraint Under Verbal Provocation in the Assembly (सभायां आक्रोश-सहिष्णुता)
जैसे साँप अपने फनको ऊँचा उठाकर प्रकाशित करता है, उसी प्रकार जनसमुदायमें किसी महापुरुषकी निन्दा करनेवाला दुरात्मा अपने ही दोषोंको प्रकट करता है ।।
yathā sarpaḥ svaphanaṃ ūrdhvaṃ kṛtvā prakāśayati, tathā janasamūhe mahāpuruṣa-nindakaḥ durātmā svadoṣān eva prakāśayati. taṃ svakarmāṇi kurvāṇaṃ pratikartuṃ ya icchati, sa bhasmakuṭa ivābuddhiḥ kharo rajasi sajjati.
Sinabi ni Bhishma: Kung paanong itinataas ng ahas ang kanyang talukbong at sa gayon ay lalo siyang napapansin, gayon din ang masamang taong naninirang-puri sa isang dakilang tao sa harap ng madla—ibinubunyag lamang niya ang sarili niyang mga kapintasan. At sinumang magnais gumanti sa gayong hamak na tao, na ginagawa lamang ang sarili niyang gawain ng paninira at panlalait, ay tulad ng hangal na asnong gumugulong sa bunton ng abo—nakabaon sa alikabok at pagdurusa, at wala siyang mapapala kundi pighati.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Slandering the noble publicly exposes the slanderer’s own defects; and retaliating against such a person only entangles one in further misery. The ethical counsel is restraint in response, letting the wrongdoer’s vice reveal itself without dragging oneself into the same dust.
In Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma advises Yudhishthira through vivid similes: the slanderer is like a snake that makes itself conspicuous by raising its hood, and the retaliator is like a donkey rolling in ashes—both images warning against public blame and against vengeful reaction.