Adhyāya 122 — Śruta-vṛtta-yukta Brāhmaṇa and the Ethics of Dāna
Maitreya–Vyāsa Saṃvāda
गृहेषु स्वनिवासेषु सुखेषु शयनेषु च । वरार्हेषु महाभाग स्वपामि च सुपूजित:,महाभाग! श्रेष्ठ पुरुषोंमें रहने योग्य अपने निवासभूत सुन्दर महलोंके भीतर सुखद शय्याओंपर मैं बड़े सम्मानके साथ शयन करता हूँ
gṛheṣu svanivāseṣu sukheṣu śayaneṣu ca | varārheṣu mahābhāga svapāmi ca supūjitaḥ ||
Con côn trùng ấy nói: “Trong nhà—ngay trong chốn cư ngụ của ta—trên những giường êm ái, và cả trong những nơi ở xứng đáng bậc thượng hạng, hỡi bậc cao quý, ta ngủ trong sự tôn kính và trọng vọng.”
कीट उवाच
Comfort, honor, and ‘high’ living can be contingent and borrowed—arising from proximity to the powerful or protected spaces—so one should not build pride on external privilege; humility and discernment about the sources of one’s status are implied.
The insect speaks to a noble interlocutor, describing how it sleeps comfortably and with honor inside fine houses and dwellings, using its own experience to make a pointed observation about how even a small being can enjoy elite comforts when sheltered within the domains of the great.