Shloka 31
Adhyāya 287 — Janaka’s Inquiry on Śreyas, Abhayadāna, and Asaṅga
Non-attachment
न लोके दीप्यते मूर्ख: केवलात्मप्रशंसया । अपि चापिहित: श्वश्रे कृतविद्य: प्रकाशते
na loke dīpyate mūrkhaḥ kevalātmapraśaṃsayā | api cāpihitaḥ śvaśre kṛtavidyaḥ prakāśate ||
那罗陀说：“在这世间，愚人并不会仅凭自我称赞而真正发光。唯有确实获得学识与技艺之人，凭自身德才自会显现——纵使被遮蔽隐藏，仿佛被婆母覆住一般。”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Self-advertisement cannot create real excellence: foolishness is not transformed by boasting. Genuine learning and competence naturally become known, even when circumstances try to keep a person in the background.
Nārada delivers a moral observation in the Śānti Parva’s instruction-oriented setting, contrasting empty self-praise with the self-evident nature of true education and capability, illustrated through a domestic metaphor of someone being ‘kept under cover’ by a mother-in-law.