शल्यादीन् अपि कस्मात् त्वं न स्तौषि वसुधाधिपान् ॥
स्तवाय यदि ते बुद्धिर् वर्तते भीष्म सर्वदा ॥
किं हि शक्यं मया कर्तुं यद् वृद्धानां त्वया नृप ॥
पुरा कथयतां नूनं न श्रुतं धर्मवादिनाम् ॥
आत्मनिन्दात्मपूजा च परनिन्दा परस्तवः ॥
अनाचरितम् आर्याणां वृत्तम् एतच् चतुर्विधम् ॥
śalyādīn api kasmāt tvaṃ na stauṣi vasudhādhipān ||
stavāya yadi te buddhir vartate bhīṣma sarvadā ||
kiṃ hi śakyaṃ mayā kartuṃ yad vṛddhānāṃ tvayā nṛpa ||
purā kathayatāṃ nūnaṃ na śrutaṃ dharmavādinām ||
ātmanindātmapūjā ca paranindā parastavaḥ ||
anācaritam āryāṇāṃ vṛttam etac caturvidham ||
"Why then do you not praise Shalya and the other lords of the earth, if your mind, O Bhishma, is always turned to praise? What can I do, if you, O king, have surely not heard what the dharma-proclaiming elders used to say of old: self-disparagement and self-praise, disparaging others and praising others — this fourfold conduct does not befit the noble (āryas)."
1c781f700f5f · प्रकाशित 16 जुल॰ 2026, 3:49:21 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Shishupala cites a correct rule — that self-praise and the disparagement of others do not befit the noble — yet forgets that in this very moment he commits all four forbidden acts at once. It is telling how often an accuser charges another with exactly what fills himself. The verse teaches that citing a commandment is easy, keeping it is hard; and whoever measures others by a rule he himself tramples exposes not his neighbor but himself. Bhishma's praise of Krishna, moreover, does not fall under "praising others" in any reproachable sense: to glorify the Lord is not flattery of a mortal but the confession of truth; the prohibition on empty praise does not touch the glorification of the Supreme.