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].”
loṣṭham-ardī tṛṇa-cchedī nakha-khādī ca yo naraḥ |
sa vināśaṁ vrajaty āśu sūcako’śucir eva ca ||
(Manu Smṛti: 4.71)
“A person who is a crusher of clods, a tearer of grass, or a nail-biter soon meets with ruin, as does an informer [i.e., one who recounts the faults of others, esp., with the aim of defamation] and one who is impure.”
yad adharma-kṛtaḥ sthānaṁ sūcakasyāpi tad bhavet |
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.17.22)
“A performer of adharma’s future destination [i.e., Naraka] shall become that of an informer as well [i.e., even one who only speaks about another person performing an act of adharma also gets a share of the reaction for performing that act of adharma even though one has only spoken of the performer of it and not performed the action oneself].”
para-vācyeṣu nipuṇaḥ sarvo bhavati sarvadā |
ātma-vācyaṁ na jānīte jānann api ca muhmati ||
(Unknown source)
“Everyone is always expert in regard to the faults of others [alt., in commenting on or criticizing others]. They are unaware of their own faults, or, even if they are aware, they are mistaken [about them, as they don’t know how to analyze themselves properly].”
śraddhāṁ bhāgavate śāstre’nindām anyatra cāpi hi |
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.3.26)
“[One should learn from śrī guru] Śraddhā in Bhāgavata-śāstra, and non-defamation otherwise.”
nindanaṁ doṣa-kīrtanam |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.1.23; Sārārtha-darśinī on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.19.38)
“Nindā is narration of faults.”
ātma-ślāghā para-nindā paiśunyam anṛtaṁ tathā |
asambandha-pralāpaś ca vācikaṁ tu malaṁ smṛtam ||
(Unknown Source)
“Self-praise, defamation of others, slander, falsity, and irrelevant chatter—these are known as impurities of speech.”
atiśaucam aśaucaṁ vā atinindā atistutiḥ |
atyācāram anācāraṃ ṣaḍ-vidhaṁ mūrkha-lakṣaṇam ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“The six characteristics of a fool are (1) excessive cleanliness [i.e., obsessive concern regarding cleanliness], (2) uncleanliness, (3) excessive criticism, (4) excessive praise, (5) excessive propriety [i.e., pretension, affectation, theatricality, artificiality, etc.], and (6) impropriety.”
aloka-sāmānyam acintya-hetukaṁ
dviṣanti mandāś caritaṁ mahātmanām ||
(Kumāra-sambhava: 5.75)
“Fools deride the character of great souls because it is extraordinary and its cause is incomprehensible [to them].”
vaiṣṇavera nindya-karma nāhi pāḍe kāṇe |
sabe kṛṣṇa-bhajana kare—ei-mātra jāne ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.13.133)
“He [i.e., Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa] would not take into his ears [talk of] censurable acts of Vaiṣṇavas. ‘Everyone engages in Kṛṣṇa-bhajana.’ He perceived only of this.”
