Words Well Worth 48: Spare The Bite But Do Scare Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

Even venom-less, a snake should
Hold forth and show off daunting hood,
Venom be or never ever,
Show frightening facade to scare.
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Transliteration of the subhāśhita along with the meanings of Sanskrit words is given as under:

nirviśheņa api sarpeņa kartavyā mahatī phaņā |
viśham astu na cha api astu phaţāţopo bhayankarah ||

nirviśheņa api: even without venom, non-venomous
sarpeņa: by the snake/serpent
kartavyā: should do/carry out
mahatī: big, daunting
phaņā: showing up the hood like a cobra (also fangs)
viśham astu: venom be
na cha: or not
api astu: even (it) be
phaţāţopo: (phata-atopah)hissing and showing off the fangs
bhayankarah: (is)frightening, terrifying, causing fear

Note: This verse is based on the story of a snake, which on the advice of a sage and decided to be good and non-violent. It followed the advice to the hilt. But now the people started harassing it, seeing it to be harmless. He approached the sage again for advice. This verse depicts reality, ‘Use no fangs and bite, but show what you might do, if only to frighten.'

Topic: snake, fear