Sweet to the Face, Rude Behind: False All Through

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

A short, sharp shalok about two-faced behavior: one who offers both respectful greetings and rude refusal to his master has gone wrong from the very beginning. Being warm and polite in front of someone while being dismissive or rude behind their back — that whole game is false from the start, and both halves of it are worthless (both his actions are false). You can't be sincere in one breath and mocking in the next; the mixture poisons both. For a child: be one honest person, not two-faced. If your kindness to someone's face isn't real, the politeness counts for nothing.