[neeti-21]
क्षुत्क्षामोऽपि जराकृशोऽपि शिथिलप्राणोऽपि कष्टां दशाम्आपन्नोऽपि विपन्नदीधितिरिति प्राणेषु नश्यत्स्वपि ।मत्तेभेन्द्रविभिन्नकुम्भपिशितग्रासैकबद्धस्पृहःकिं जीर्णं तृणमत्ति मानमहतामग्रेसरः केसरी ॥२१॥kṣutkṣāmo'pi jarākṛśo'pi śithilaprāṇo'pi kaṣṭāṃ daśāmāpanno'pi vipannadīdhitiriti prāṇeṣu naśyatsvapi |mattebhendravibhinnakumbhapiśitagrāsaikabaddhaspṛhaḥkiṃ jīrṇaṃ tṛṇamatti mānamahatāmagresaraḥ kesarī ||21||
Translation
(A MAN WITH `SELF �RESPECT' NEVER GIVES UP HIS PRINCIPLES)
Though emaciated by hunger; though shrunken by old age; though limbs are drooping; though stuck in a difficult situation; though the luster of the face is lost; though the five vital forces are leaving; will the lion - who is adorned by the mane, who stands foremost among beings with self-respect, who desires only the flesh of the broken head of the ‘musth’ elephant, - ever eat the dried up grass?! ॥ 21 ॥