Text 22]
King Purañjana Goes to the Forest to Hunt
1237
awarded by the state or by God for one's own faults is actually for one's benefit. In the  Manu-samhitā  it is said that the king should be considered merciful when he condemns a murderer to death because a murderer punished in this life becomes freed from his sinful activity and in the next life takes birth cleared of all sins. If one accepts punishment as a reward dealt by the master, he becomes intelligent enough not to commit the same mistake again.
TEXT 22
परमोऽनुग्रहो दण्डो मृत्येषु प्रभुणार्थितः । 
  बालो न वेद तत्तन्वि बन्धुरुत्यमपर्वणः ॥२२॥
paramo 'nugraho daṇḍo 
  bhṛtyeṣu prabhuṇārpitaḥ 
  bālo na veda tat tanvi 
  bandhu-kṛtyam amarṣaṇaḥ
paramaḥ—supreme; anugrahaḥ—mercy; daṇḍaḥ—punishment; bhṛtyeṣu—  
  upon the servants;  prabhuṇā—by the master; arpitaḥ—awarded; bālaḥ—  
  foolish;  na—does not; veda—know; tat—that; tanvi—O slender maiden;  
 bandhu-kṛtyam—the duty of a friend; amarṣaṇaḥ—angry.
TRANSLATION
My dear slender maiden, when a master chastises his servant, the servant should accept this as great mercy. One who becomes angry must be very foolish not to know that such is the duty of his friend.
PURPORT
It is said that when a foolish man is instructed in something very nice, he generally cannot accept it. Indeed, he actually becomes angry. Such anger is compared to the poison of a serpent, for when a serpent is fed milk and bananas, its poison actually increases. Instead of becoming merciful or sober, the serpent increases its poisonous venom when fed nice foodstuffs. Similarly, when a fool is instructed, he does not rectify himself, but actually becomes angry.