SB 4.15.24
Devanāgarī
महद्गुणानात्मनि कर्तुमीश: क: स्तावकै: स्तावयतेऽसतोऽपि । तेऽस्याभविष्यन्निति विप्रलब्धो जनावहासं कुमतिर्न वेद ॥ २४ ॥
Text
mahad-guṇān ātmani kartum īśaḥ kaḥ stāvakaiḥ stāvayate ’sato ’pi te ’syābhaviṣyann iti vipralabdho janāvahāsaṁ kumatir na veda
Synonyms
mahat—exalted;guṇān—the qualities;ātmani—in himself;kartum—to manifest;īśaḥ—competent;kaḥ—who;stāvakaiḥ—by followers;stāvayate—causes to be praised;asataḥ—not existing;api—although;te—they;asya—of him;abhaviṣyan—might have been;iti—thus;vipralabdhaḥ—cheated;jana—of people;avahāsam—insult;kumatiḥ—a fool;na—does not;veda—know.
Translation
How could an intelligent man competent enough to possess such exalted qualities allow his followers to praise him if he did not actually have them? Praising a man by saying that if he were educated he might have become a great scholar or great personality is nothing but a process of cheating. A foolish person who agrees to accept such praise does not know that such words simply insult him.