सुलभाः पुरुषा राजन्सततं प्रियवादिनः।
अप्रियस्य तु पथ्यस्य वक्ता श्रोता च दुर्लभः॥
sulabhāḥ puruṣā rājan satataṁ priya-vādinaḥ
apriyasya tu pathyasya vaktā śrotā ca durlabhaḥ
sulabhāḥ = are easy to find; puruṣāḥ = men; rājan = O king; satatam = always; priya-vādinaḥ = who speak pleasantly; apriyasya = of displeasing; tu = but; pathyasya = but good [advice]; vaktā = a speaker; śrotā = hearer; ca = and; durlabhaḥ = are rare.
O king, men who always speak pleasantly are easy to find. But a speaker and hearer of displeasing but good [advice] are rare.1
1 “No one likes to be the bearer of bad news. Not only is it unpleasant; it can be dangerous. Kings routinely used to kill on the spot hapless messengers bringing word of defeat. Even so, most people still acknowledge that truth, however unpalatable, is preferable to illusion, however cheering.” (Endless Love by Ravīndra-svarūpa dāsa)
1 Similarly, on the path of bhakti too, gurus who prescribe pure devotional service to Kṛṣṇa, which appears bitter to impure devotees and nondevotees, as well as śiṣyas who accept such pure bhakti are certainly rare. Prabhupāda has cautioned us about “cheap gurus” and “cheap disciples” who are uninterested in accepting the standard prohibitions and prescriptions of pure bhakti-yoga. Anyone interested in understanding what pure devotional service unto Kṛṣṇa is can peruse The Nectar of Instruction, Prabhupāda’s annotated English translation of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Upadeśāmṛta.
Men who always, that is, even in [a state of] crisis, speak pleasantly, that is, who are habituated to argue as they like just for their own purposes while neglecting to consider what is beneficial or harmful to their masters, are easy to find.
But a servant who speaks words which might even displease [his] king, that is, which might appear to be bitter to the [king’s] ears at that time [but] which are good, that is, which bring about auspiciousness [for the king], as well as the hearer of such words, that is, a king who accepts such words as being good for him, like a diet, are rare.
Mārīca implies, “So accept what I tell you as being [for your] supreme good even if it is displeasing.”
He speaks [such] good words from the next verse.
GLOSS. [The glossator reads bhoktā instead of śrotā indicating that] just as one who prescribes a [bitter medicinal] regimen such as trikaṭuka consisting of black pepper, long pepper and dry ginger is rare, so is one who consumes it.1