Shloka 19
अध्याय १२८: शिव–उमा संवादः — तिलोत्तमा, श्मशान-मेध्यता, तथा चातुर्वर्ण्य-धर्मः
Chapter 128: Śiva–Umā Dialogue—Tilottamā, the Ritual Valence of the Śmaśāna, and the Fourfold Duty-Code
असत्स्वपि निविष्ठेषु ब्रुवतो मुक्तसंशयम् । गुणास्ते न विराजन्ते तेनासि हरिण: कृश:
asatsv api niviṣṭeṣu bruvato mukta-saṁśayam | guṇās te na virājante tenāsi hariṇaḥ kṛśaḥ ||
即便你立于恶人之中，毫无疑惧地说出至善之言，你的德行在那里也不显耀。故而你像鹿一般日渐消瘦——气力衰微，光彩渐失。
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Good counsel and doubt-free truth may be spoken, but in the company of the wicked it often fails to be recognized or valued; therefore one’s virtues do not ‘shine’ there, and the speaker is drained—morally and emotionally—by such unfruitful association.
A Brāhmaṇa addresses someone who speaks well even among bad people. He observes that, despite the speaker’s clarity and right speech, the surrounding corrupt company prevents those qualities from being acknowledged, causing the speaker to become weakened—likened to a thin deer.