Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 26

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

Devanagari script

नून॑ त्वां सुगुणर्युक्ते पूजयानं सुह्ृद्ध्रुवम्‌ । ममार्थ इति जानीते तेनासि हरिण: कृश:

Transliteration

nūnaṃ tvāṃ suguṇa-yukte pūjayānaṃ suhṛd dhruvam | mamārtha iti jānīte tenāsi hariṇaḥ kṛśaḥ ||

Translation

“诚然，具足善德者啊，你因德行而受众人敬礼；然而你的朋友却固执地以为：‘这份尊敬是因我——凭我的势力。’因此忧惧萦心，你便如鹿一般消瘦而苍白。”

Word by Word

• {'nūnam': 'surely, indeed', 'tvām': 'you', 'suguṇa-yukte': 'endowed with good qualities

• possessing virtues', 'pūjayānam': 'being honored, being worshipfully respected', 'suhṛt': 'friend, well-wisher', 'dhruvam': 'certainly

• as a fixed notion', 'mama-arthaḥ': 'for my sake

• my benefit/credit', 'iti': 'thus', 'jānīte': 'thinks, believes, understands', 'tena': 'therefore

• because of that', 'asi': 'you are', 'hariṇaḥ': 'a deer', 'kṛśaḥ': 'thin, emaciated'}

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• ब्राह्मण (speaker)
• सুহृत् (friend)
• हरिण (deer, as simile)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse warns against ego-driven appropriation of another’s merit: when a person is honored for genuine virtues, a possessive friend may claim the credit (“because of me”), creating suffering and anxiety. Ethical conduct includes recognizing others’ qualities without jealousy or self-serving attribution.

What is happening in the narrative?

A brāhmaṇa addresses a virtuous person who is being respected by others. The speaker observes that the person’s friend wrongly believes the honor arises from the friend’s own influence, and this situation has made the virtuous person anxious—hence thin and pale, compared to a deer.