Subhashitam #2- Speaking to the right audience

Choosing a good topic to speak is important but choosing to speak the topic in front of the right audience is more important than that.

श्लोकस्तु श्लोकतां याति यत्र तिष्ठन्ति साधवाः l
लकारो लुप्यते तत्र यत्र तिष्ठन्त्यसाधवाः ll

shlokastu shlokataam yaati yatra tiShThanti saadhavaah l
lakaaro lupyate tatra yatra tiShThantyasaadhavaah ll

In an assembly of righteous, noble and knowledgeable people, recitation of shlokas (verses or hymns in Sanskrit literature) are appreciated and enjoyed by all. But in an assembly thronged by wicked and mean people the effect is just the opposite – i.e. sorrow. The Subhashitakar says here that this is due to dropping of the alphabet la from the word shloka making it shoka – which means sorrow due to unruly behavior of the wicked people who do not appreciate finer points of poetry.

Not all the topics or pleasant things are admired by all the people. People with good thoughts will try to take good value from whatever they hear. But people who find flaws in everything cannot be a good audience. It is better to avoid such people and keep the association only with good people with noble thoughts.