sadā droha-paro yas tu saj-janānāṁ mahī-tale |
jāyate pāvano dhanyo harer nāmānukīrtanāt ||
(Laghu-bhāgavata; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.340)
“[Even] One who is constantly malicious towards virtuous people becomes purified [alt., purifying] and fortunate as a result of continuous chanting of Hari’s name.”
ye sabhāya vaiṣṇavera nindā-mātra haya |
sarva-dharma thākileo tabhu haya kṣaya ||
sannyāsi-sabhāya yadi haya nindā-karma |
madyapero sabhā haite se sabhā adharmya ||
madyapera niṣkṛti āchaye kono kāle |
para-carcakera gati nahe kabhu bhāle ||
śāstra paḍhiyāo kāro kāro buddhi-nāśa |
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 2.13.41–44)
“Even if the totality of dharma is [otherwise] present, still an assembly in which defamation (nindā) of a Vaiṣṇava occurs is ruined. If an act of defamation occurs [even] in an assembly of sannyāsīs, then that assembly is adharmic more so than an assembly of drunkards. There is deliverance for a drunkard some day. A gossiper [however] never has progress on their forehead [i.e., never has a bright future]. Even after studying śāstra, the intelligence of many is ruined [by engaging in defamation].”
na hi nindā nindayituṁ prayujyate | kiṁ tarhi? ninditād itarat praśaṁsitum |
(Śabara-bhāṣya on Mīmāṁsā-sūtra: 2.4.21)
“The criticism (nindā) is not employed to criticize. Then what [is it employed for]? To praise something other than that which is criticized.”
na bhajati kumanīṣiṇāṁ sa ijyāṁ
harir adhanātma-dhana-priyo rasa-jñaḥ |
śruta-dhana-kula-karmaṇāṁ madair ye
vidadhati pāpam akiñcaneṣu satsu ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.31.21; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 301)
“The connoisseur of rasa, Hari, he to whom those who have no [worldly] wealth and whose wealth is the Self [i.e., the Ātmā, meaning, Hari himself] are dear, does not accept the worship of those of polluted intellect, who because of the intoxications of learning, wealth, family, and deeds, engage in wrong-doing in relation to sādhus who are without anything [i.e., free from any such intoxications and the pride and possessiveness that underlie them].”
garhito karaye yadi mahā-adhikārī |
nindāra ki dāya, tā̐re hāsilei mari ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 3.6.35)
“[Śrīman Mahāprabhu:] If a highly qualified person does something forbidden, [then] what [to speak] of the lot of a defamer—if one even laughs at him one is ruined.”
aninduka ha-i ye sakṛt ‘kṛṣṇa’ bale |
satya satya kṛṣṇa tāre uddhāriba hele ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 2.9.246)
“Truly truly Kṛṣṇa will deliver with ease anyone who, being a non-defamer, once chants, ‘Kṛṣṇa.’”
ābrahma-stambādi saba kṛṣṇera vaibhava |
‘nindā-mātra kṛṣṇa ruṣṭa’ kahe śāstra saba ||
anindaka ha-i ye sakṛt kṛṣṇa bale |
satya satya kṛṣṇa tāre uddhāriba hele ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 2.20.147–148)
“From Brahmā to a clump of grass and so forth—everything is a manifestation of Kṛṣṇa. [Therefore,] All the śāstras say, ‘Kṛṣṇa becomes angry at any defamation at all.’ Truly, truly, Kṛṣṇa will easily deliver anyone who, being non-defaming, once chants, ‘Kṛṣṇa.’”
ṛtaṁ ca sūnṛtā vāṇī kavibhiḥ parikīrtitā |
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.19.38)
“Ṛtam is praised by the kavis as sūnṛtā speech.”
anyān parivadan sādhur yathā hi paritapyate |
tathā parivadann anyāṁs tuṣṭo bhavati durjanaḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: 1.69.11; cited in Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 1792)
“As a sādhu is certainly pained by speaking ill of others, so the wicked become pleased by speaking ill of others.”
mātā garīyasī loke mātṛto’py adhikaṁ khalaḥ |
mātā punāti hastābhyāṁ khalās tu jihvayā malam ||
(Unknown source)
“In this world, a mother is great, but a scoundrel is even greater [i.e., far inferior (as a pun)] than a mother. A mother wipes up refuse with her hands [when she cleans a child who has soiled itself], but scoundrels wipe it up with their tongue [when they speak of others’ defilements].”
