Sumati Satakam 5

ఎప్పుడు దప్పులు వెదకెడు
నప్పురుషుని గొల్వగూడ దది యెట్లన్నన్‌
సర్పంబు పడగ నీడను
గప్ప వసించిన విధంబు గదరా సుమతీ
Eppudu dappulu vedakedu
Nappurushuni kolvakUdadadi yetlannan
Sarpambu pdaga nIdanu
Kappa vasincina viDamu gadarA sumatI

ఎప్పుడు =always
దప్పులు =errors
వెదకెడు =searching
ఆ =that
పురుషుని =man
గొల్వగూడదు =should not serve
అది యెట్లన్నన్‌ = how it is like
సర్పంబు = snake
పడగ నీడను = under the shade of hood
గప్ప =frog
వసించిన = living
విధంబు =type
గదరా సుమతీ
Baddena comments about masters who always look only for the mistakes in people.
This verse sharply tells that one should not serve a man who searches always for mistakes in people. He compares this with a frog living in the shadow of the snake’s hood.

It is always told that one should only look into the good qualities people have. Only then their mistakes even if they are there, would look simple. Forgiving them will also be easy. On the other hand if one is looking for only errors in people, ultimately even if there is a lot of good in them it all will become obscure in the light of all the negativity built up already.

Baddena compares the service of a man who looks for faults with the life of a frog under the snake’s hood. You can never be sure about your security in the situation. You never know when the frog is eaten or the when the man will harm the servant.

Even in the modern management it is clearly told that when the leader or the manager is giving feedback to the staff, initially all positive things should be taken into consideration. Only then the mistakes should be pointed out, so that they can be corrected. Fault finding should be an exercise towards improvement.