Mahabharata 3.134.26

3.134.26

aṣṭāvakra uvāca |
viprāḥ samudrāmbhasi majjitāste vācā jitā medhayā āvidānāḥ |
tāṃ medhayā vācamathojjahāra yathā vācamavacinvanti santaḥ || 26 ||

"Ashtavakra said, 'Defeating the Brahmanas either by words or subtlety. Vandin had cast them into the waters of the sea. (That Vedic truth which he had suppressed by false arguments), have I to-day rescued by dint of my intellect. Now let candid men judge. As Agni, who knoweth the character of both the good and the bad, leaveth unscorched by his heat the bodies of those whose designs are honest, and is thus partial to them, so good men judge the assertions of boys, although lacking the power of speech, and are favourably disposed towards them. O Janaka, thou hearest my words as if thou hast been stupefied in consequence of having eaten the fruit of the Sleshmataki tree. Or flattery hath robbed thee of thy sense, and for this it is that although pierced by my words as an elephant (by the hook), thou hearest them not.'