Text 22
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.
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.
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.