sarpaḥ krūraḥ khalaḥ krūraḥ sarpāt krūrataraḥ khalaḥ |
sarpaḥ śāmyati mantraiśca durjanaḥ kena śāmyati ||
A snake is cruel and so is the wicked person. But a wicked person should be called more cruel than the snake because the snake can be calmed by some techniques (‘Mantras’), but the wicked person cannot be kept in control by any such techniques!