Shloka 25

अव्यक्तकालमान-निर्णयः

Measures of Time from the Unmanifest; Creation, Elements, and the Primacy of Mind

Devanagari script

आक्रोशनविमानाभ्यां नाबुधान्‌ बोधयेद्‌ बुध: । तस्मान्न वर्धयेदन्यं न चात्मानं विहिंसयेत्‌

Transliteration

ākrośanavimānābhyāṃ nābudhān bodhayet budhaḥ | tasmān na vardhayed anyaṃ na cātmānaṃ vihiṃsayet |

Translation

智者不应在愚人以辱骂与侮慢相加之时，仍以指摘其过来教诲之。是故，不当再助长此人之气焰；亦不当以反诘与控诉相报，以致自伤其身。

Word by Word

• {'ākrośana': 'abuse, harsh reviling speech', 'vimāna': 'insult, contempt, humiliation', 'ābhyām': 'by/through the two (instrumental dual)', 'na': 'not', 'abudhān': 'the unwise, those lacking understanding', 'bodhayet': 'should awaken/instruct, should make understand', 'budhaḥ': 'a wise person, the discerning', 'tasmāt': 'therefore, for that reason', 'vardhayet': 'should increase, should encourage, should amplify', 'anyam': 'another (person), the other', 'ca': 'and', 'ātmānam': 'oneself', 'vihiṃsayet': 'should injure/harm, should cause violence to'}

Speaker

हंस उवाच

Characters & Entities

• haṃsa (speaker)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Do not attempt to reform the ignorant when they are in a mode of abuse and contempt; engaging them only escalates conflict. Instead, avoid fueling their behavior and protect your own integrity by not retaliating in ways that lead to self-harm (ethical, mental, or social).

What is happening in the narrative?

Haṃsa is delivering a didactic instruction in the Śānti Parva’s discourse on right conduct: he advises a wise listener on how to respond to provocation—by refusing to enter a cycle of insult and counter-insult, and by not empowering the aggressor through attention or escalation.