परमो ऽनुग्रहो दण्डो भृत्येषु प्रभुणार्पितः बालो न वेद तत्तन्वि बन्धुकृत्यममर्षणः
paramo 'nugraho daṇḍo bhṛtyeṣu prabhuṇārpitaḥ bālo na veda tat tanvi bandhu-kṛtyam amarṣaṇaḥ
Synonyms
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.