Shakuntala said: “O king, you see the faults of others as small as a mustard seed, but your own, as large as a bilva fruit, you do not see even while seeing them. Menaka is among the gods, and the gods honor Menaka; my birth, O Dushyanta, is higher than yours. O king, you walk upon the earth, I walk through the sky; behold the difference between us, as between Meru and a mustard seed. O king, I walk into the halls of Mahendra, Kubera, Yama, and Varuna; behold my power. O sinless one, there is a true saying which I shall tell you for instruction, not out of enmity; having heard it, forgive me. An ugly man, until he sees his own face in a mirror, imagines himself more handsome than others; but when he sees his ugly face in the mirror, then he learns the difference between himself and another person. One who is truly handsome despises no one; but one who is excessively talkative and abusive becomes here an offender. A fool, hearing good and bad words from those who speak, takes the bad word, as a pig takes filth. But the wise man, hearing good and bad words from those who speak, takes the worthy word, as a swan separates milk from water. As a good man, speaking ill of others, himself suffers, so an evildoer, speaking ill of others, is pleased. As good men, having honored their elders, attain contentment, so a fool, having reviled a good man, is pleased. Those who do not seek out faults live happily; but fools who seek out faults and are reviled by the good, themselves revile others in the same way. There is nothing in the world more laughable than when an evildoer himself calls a good man an evildoer.”