Text 22] King Puranjana 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-samhita 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

THHSaH set TY TaMAe: |
TS TA TART WASNT 122

paramo ‘nugraho dando
bhrtyesu prabhunarpitah

balo na veda tat tanvi
bandhu-krtyam amarsanah

paramah—supreme; anugrahah— mercy; dandah—punishment; bhrtyesu—
upon the servants; prabhunad—by the master; arpitah—awarded; balah—
foolish; na~—does not; veda—know; tat—that; tanvi—O slender maiden;
bandhu-krtyam—the duty of a friend; amarsanah—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.
