Thus they should never get angry or speak abusively towards such people as to do so would be in direct contradiction to the Sadhus Dharma: Kshamashila Hi Saadhavaha - ‘Forgiveness is a Sadhus quality’. To forgive in such circumstances is by no means easy. Lord Shankar explains, ‘O Devi! The pain inflicted by the weapons of an enemy are minute compared to the afflictions caused through harsh words directed at oneself.’
God has said, ‘An arrow through the heart is nothing compared to hurtful words directed at oneself. But still, in such circumstances, one should accept such harsh words using their intellect and self control (and never loose control by becoming angry).’ ‘O Uddhava! Upon this Earth, a Sadhu is not he who becomes agitated by others and is not able to cool his mind of such agitation.’
Only such Sadhus are considered the greatest amongst men. The lowest form of man is he who insults others, who bears hatred, begrudges others, beats others, imprisons, steals all their wealth or livelihood, who spits or urinates upon another etc.
Sukhdevji explains that such harsh words or beating amount to nothing - ‘Just as the Daityas (demons) tried everything to be victorious over the Devas (Gods) and utterly failed, the abuse verbally or physically by the unrighteous upon the righteous has no effect.’
Examples of restraint are given in the Shrimad Bhagwat, ‘The great and foremost devotee of God, Chitraketu, could quite easily have cursed Goddess Parvati but was suppressed by him. Such is a trait of a Sadhu.’ ‘O Parikshit! The great and best of saints, Shree Narad, gladly accepted the curse by Daksha by even praising him for his favour. In this way, all Sadhus should behave in this manner.’
Manusmruti explains that accepting insult is the source of personal happiness: ‘Those who are insulted sleep in peace, awake in peace and live in peace. However, those who insult others only face destruction.’ Thus those who are unaffected by slander are destined for greatness. For this reason, Sadhus should never show content for others and should think only of wishing them well. They should never think to hurt others either mentally or physically, even if they themselves are hurt.