What the scriptures say about being wronged

• Bhartrihari

  जाड्यं ह्रीमति गण्यते व्रतरुचौ दम्भः शुचौ कैतवं शूरे निर्घृणता मुनौ विमतिता दैन्यं प्रियालापिनि । तेजस्विन्यवलिप्तता मुखरता वक्तर्यशक्तिः स्थिरे तत्को नाम गुणो भवेत्स गुणिनां यो दुर्जनैर्नाङ्कितः ॥

  jāḍyaṃ hrīmati gaṇyate vratarucau dambhaḥ śucau kaitavaṃ śūre nirghṛṇatā munau vimatitā dainyaṃ priyālāpini | tejasvinyavaliptatā mukharatā vaktaryaśaktiḥ sthire tatko nāma guṇo bhavetsa guṇināṃ yo durjanairnāṅkitaḥ ||

  The modest are called dull; the devout, hypocrites; the pure, frauds; the brave, heartless; the thoughtful sage, a fool; the gentle speaker, servile; the spirited, arrogant; the eloquent, a chatterbox; the steady, weak. What virtue of the virtuous has the wicked not smeared?

  Bhartrihari · Niti Shatakam

  Shows having one's modesty called dullness and one's firmness called arrogance. our reading

• Bhartrihari

  मौनान्मूकः प्रवचनपटुर्वातुलो जल्पको वा धृष्टः पार्श्वे वसति च सदा दूरतश्चाप्रगल्भः । क्षान्त्या भीरुर्यदि न सहते प्रायशो नाभिजातः सेवाधर्मः परमगहनो योगिनामप्यगम्यः ॥

  maunānmūkaḥ pravacanapaṭurvātulo jalpako vā dhṛṣṭaḥ pārśve vasati ca sadā dūrataścāpragalbhaḥ | kṣāntyā bhīruryadi na sahate prāyaśo nābhijātaḥ sevādharmaḥ paramagahano yogināmapyagamyaḥ ||

  Keep quiet and you are dumb; speak well and you are a babbler or a windbag; stay close and you are pushy; keep away and you lack confidence; be patient and you are a coward; refuse to put up with things and you are ill-bred. The duty of serving another is deep indeed, beyond the reach even of yogis.

  Bhartrihari · Niti Shatakam

  Depicts every choice turned into a fault. our reading

• Bhartrihari

  खलालापाः सोढाः कथमपि तदाराधनपरैः निगृह्यान्तर्बाष्पं हसितमपि शून्येन मनसा । कृतो वित्तस्तम्भप्रतिहतधियामञ्जलिरपि त्वमाशे मोघाशे किमपरमतो नर्तयसि माम् ॥

  khalālāpāḥ soḍhāḥ kathamapi tadārādhanaparaiḥ nigṛhyāntarbāṣpaṃ hasitamapi śūnyena manasā | kṛto vittastambhapratihatadhiyāmañjalirapi tvamāśe moghāśe kimaparamato nartayasi mām ||

  I somehow put up with the taunts of the wicked while trying to please them; I held back my tears and laughed with an empty heart; I folded my hands even before people whose minds were numbed by money. Hope, futile hope, how much more will you make me dance?

  Bhartrihari · Vairagya Shatakam

  Shows swallowing insults. our reading

• The Swan (Prajapati)

  वाक्सायका वदनान्निष्यतन्ति / यैराहतः शोचति रात्र्यहानि / परस्य नामर्मसु ते पतन्ति / तान्पण्डितो नावसृजेत्परेषु

  vāksāyakā vadanānniṣyatanti / yairāhataḥ śocati rātryahāni / parasya nāmarmasu te patanti / tānpaṇḍito nāvasṛjetpareṣu

  Arrows of words fly from the mouth, and the one they strike grieves day and night. They land on nothing but the tender spots of another; so a wise person never lets them fly at others.

  Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma, Mokshadharma

  The one hit by words is pictured grieving night and day. our reading

• Bhishma

  कर्णिनालीकनाराचान्निर्हरन्ति शरीरतः / वाक्शल्यस्तु न निर्हर्तुं शक्यो हृदिशयो हि सः

  karṇinālīkanārācānnirharanti śarīrataḥ / vākśalyastu na nirhartuṃ śakyo hṛdiśayo hi saḥ

  Barbed arrows and spears can be pulled out of the body, but the dart of a cruel word cannot be removed. It stays lodged in the heart.

  Mahabharata · Anushasana Parva · Anushasana

  Depicts the cruel word pictured still lodged in the heart long after. our reading

• Ashtavakra

  न तेन स्थविरो भवति येनास्य पलितं शिरः / बालोपि यः प्रजानाति तं देवाः स्थविरं विदुः

  na tena sthaviro bhavati yenāsya palitaṃ śiraḥ / bālopi yaḥ prajānāti taṃ devāḥ sthaviraṃ viduḥ

  A person is not old because his head is grey. The one who truly understands, even if young, is the one the gods call an elder.

  Mahabharata · Vana Parva · Vana: Ashtavakra

  Shows a boy turned away at the gate for his age. our reading

• Each work has to pass through these stages — ridicule, opposition, and then acceptance.

  Swami Vivekananda

  Depicts being mocked and opposed for one's work. our reading

• Ram

  अलीकं मानसं त्वेकं हृदयं दहते मम। स्वयं यन्नाह मां राजा भरतस्याभिषेचनम्॥

  alīkaṃ mānasaṃ tvekaṃ hṛdayaṃ dahate mama| svayaṃ yannāha māṃ rājā bharatasyābhiṣecanam||

  Only one sorrow burns my heart: that the king did not tell me himself about Bharata's coronation.

  Valmiki Ramayana · Ayodhya Kanda

  Shows him accepting the loss while the hurt of being bypassed by his own father burns. our reading

• Self-respecttejas

  With what is right the weak can face the strong. stated in the text

  MBh Vana 28; Gita 16.3; Brihad 1.4.14

• Truthful speechsatya vak

  Speak the truth for the sake of the matter. stated in the text

  Valmiki 6.10 (Vibhishana); 6.17.50; Gita 17.15; Manas Uttar 45

• Fearlessnessabhaya

  Never give up what is right from fear. stated in the text

  Mahabharata Vidura 40.12; Manas Lanka 34

• Surrenderśaraṇāgati

  When protectors only watched, she called on the one who would not. stated in the text

  Draupadi to Krishna

• Discernmentviveka

  Know the time for firmness and the time for forbearance; ask first, then stand. stated in the text

  MBh Vana 28; Valmiki 6.21 (ocean)

• Krishna

  अनुद्वेगकरं वाक्यं सत्यं प्रियहितं च यत् । स्वाध्यायाभ्यसनं चैव वाङ्मयं तप उच्यते ॥

  anudvegakaraṃ vākyaṃ satyaṃ priyahitaṃ ca yat | svādhyāyābhyasanaṃ caiva vāṅmayaṃ tapa ucyate ||

  Speech that causes no distress, that is truthful, pleasant and beneficial, and the regular study of sacred texts: this is called austerity of speech.

  Bhagavad Gita 17.15

• Prahlada (quoted by Draupadi)

  न श्रेयः सततं तेजो न नित्यं श्रेयसी क्षमा / इति तात विजानीहि द्वयमेतदसंशयम्

  na śreyaḥ satataṃ tejo na nityaṃ śreyasī kṣamā / iti tāta vijānīhi dvayametadasaṃśayam

  Force is not always best, and forgiveness is not always best. Know this for certain, my child: both have their place.

  Mahabharata · Vana Parva · Vana: Draupadi and Yudhishthira

• Vidura

  इदं च त्वां सर्वपरं ब्रवीमि / पुण्यं पदं तात महाविशिष्टम् / न जातु कामान्न भयान्न लोभा- / द्धर्मं जह्याज्जीविस्यापि हेतोः

  idaṃ ca tvāṃ sarvaparaṃ bravīmi / puṇyaṃ padaṃ tāta mahāviśiṣṭam / na jātu kāmānna bhayānna lobhā- / ddharmaṃ jahyājjīvisyāpi hetoḥ

  Here is the highest thing I can tell you, the purest and most valuable: never abandon what is right, not out of desire, not out of fear, not out of greed, not even to save your life.

  Mahabharata · Udyoga Parva · Vidura Niti

• Narrator

  भूमि न छाँड़त कपि चरन देखत रिपु मद भाग। कोटि बिघ्न ते संत कर मन जिमि नीति न त्याग ॥

  bhūmi na chāṁṛat kapi caran dekhat ripu mad bhāg| koṭi bighna te saṃt kar man jimi nīti na tyāg ||

  The monkey's foot would not leave the ground, and seeing it, the enemy's pride drained away; just as a good person's mind does not abandon what is right, though a million obstacles come.

  Ramcharitmanas · Lanka Kand

• Ram

  सोइ सेवक प्रियतम मम सोई। मम अनुसासन मानै जोई॥ जौं अनीति कछु भाषौं भाई। तौ मोहि बरजहु भय बिसराई ॥

  soi sevak priyatam mam soī| mam anusāsan mānai joī|| jauṃ anīti kachu bhāṣauṃ bhāī| tau mohi barajahu bhay bisarāī ||

  "The one who follows my teaching is truly my dear servant. But if I say anything unjust, brothers, put aside your fear and stop me."

  Ramcharitmanas · Uttar Kand

• Seer

  स नैव व्यभवत् तच्छ्रेयो रूपमत्यसृजत धर्मम् । तदेतत्क्षत्रस्य क्षत्रं यद्धर्मस्तस्माद्धर्मात् परं नास्त्यथो अबलीयान् बलीयाꣳसमाशꣳसते धर्मेण यथा राज्ञैवम् । यो वै स धर्मः सत्यं वै तत् तस्मात्सत्यं वदन्तमाहुर्धर्मं वदतीति धर्मं वा वदन्तꣳ सत्यं वदतीत्येतद्ध्येवैतदुभयं भवति ॥

  sa naiva vyabhavat tacchreyo rūpamatyasṛjata dharmam | tadetatkṣatrasya kṣatraṃ yaddharmastasmāddharmāt paraṃ nāstyatho abalīyān balīyāꣳsamāśaꣳsate dharmeṇa yathā rājñaivam | yo vai sa dharmaḥ satyaṃ vai tat tasmātsatyaṃ vadantamāhurdharmaṃ vadatīti dharmaṃ vā vadantaꣳ satyaṃ vadatītyetaddhyevaitadubhayaṃ bhavati ||

  Still he did not flourish. So he created a higher form, dharma. Dharma is the power over power; nothing is higher than dharma. Through dharma even a weak man can stand up to a strong one, as with the help of a king. That dharma is truth. So people say of one who speaks truth, 'He speaks dharma,' and of one who speaks dharma, 'He speaks truth.' Both are the same.

  Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.14

  Shows the wronged person their ground is the highest there is. our reading

• Krishna

  यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत । अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदाऽऽत्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥

  yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānirbhavati bhārata | abhyutthānamadharmasya tadā’’tmānaṃ sṛjāmyaham ||

  Whenever there is a decline of dharma and a rise of adharma, Bharata, then I bring myself forth.

  Bhagavad Gita 4.7

  Shows the wronged person being told wrong draws God's own response. our reading

• Bhartrihari

  कदर्थितस्यापि हि धैर्यवृत्तेर्न शक्यते धैर्यगुणः प्रमार्ष्टुम् । अधोमुखस्यापि कृतस्य वह्नेर्नाधः शिखा याति कदाचिदेव ॥

  kadarthitasyāpi hi dhairyavṛtterna śakyate dhairyaguṇaḥ pramārṣṭum | adhomukhasyāpi kṛtasya vahnernādhaḥ śikhā yāti kadācideva ||

  Even when harassed, the steadfast cannot be robbed of their steadiness. Hold a torch upside down: its flame never points downward.

  Bhartrihari · Niti Shatakam

  One's nature is not in the hands of those who mistreat one. our reading

• From the Poets and saints

  Vairagyashatakam: Dialogue between the ascetic and the king

  An ascetic tells a king who ignores him that learning equals wealth, that contentment in bark equals contentment in silk, and that pride over a few towns is a fever.

  When the mind is content, nobody is richer than you.

• From the Mahabharata

  Krishna's family troubles: the weapon not made of iron

  Even Krishna struggles with his clan: he does their work, bears their harsh words, and feels like the mother of two gamblers playing each other. Narada tells him the only weapon that works is soft: generosity, patience, sincerity, gentleness and respect.

  In family feuds, the weapon that works is gentleness, patience and respect.

• From the Mahabharata

  Uttanka confronts Krishna

  Returning home after the war, Krishna meets the sage Uttanka, who is furious that Krishna let the cousins destroy each other and threatens to curse him. Krishna explains that he tried hard for peace and was refused, and calms him.

  You can try your best for peace and still fail. Others' choices are not your guilt.

• From the Ramayana

  Arguing with Lomash

  As a young seeker Kakbhushundi went to the sage Lomash, who taught the formless God; Kakbhushundi kept arguing for his own view until the sage, provoked again and again, lost his temper and cursed him to become a crow. Kakbhushundi took it without fear or self-pity, and the sage, regretting his anger, called him back and taught him the Ramcharitmanas.

  Even calm people burn when pushed too far; take correction without bitterness.

• FearlessnessअभयHeals being wronged
• Forgivenessक्षमाHeals being wronged
• SurrenderशरणागतिHeals being wronged
• Self-respectतेजस्Heals being wronged
• DiscernmentविवेकHeals being wronged

See being wronged on the whole map