Brahmā’s maxim on ingratitude

Brahmā’s maxim on ingratitude is an inherited verse condemning those who accept assistance but give no service in return. Its force comes from both its plain rule of reciprocity and its presentation as a saying preserved across time and repeated by many voices.

Form and Attribution

The maxim appears in two couplets: “Who takes assistance of his friends, / And in his turn no service lends.” The poem attributes the verse to Brahmá, describing it as an old saying that “is echoed now by every tongue.” The attribution gives the reproach the weight of remembered wisdom rather than presenting it as a private grievance.

Ethical Claim

The verse sets receiving help beside the obligation to respond in kind. Its target is not assistance itself, but the one-sidedness of accepting a friend’s service while refusing to lend service in return. In this compressed form, ingratitude becomes a breach of relationship as well as a failure of conduct.

Narrative Force

The surrounding words introduce the verse as something Brahmá cried in anger, sharpening its moral rebuke. Its movement from an angry utterance to a saying repeated by many people gives the maxim a double character: it begins as a pointed accusation and endures as a broadly recognized judgment on thanklessness.