A wicked person is always been associated with forked tongue. Wicked persons are always dishonest, rude and double tongued. The common phrase that relate to this nature is "speaking with a forked tongue" which means to be deceitful, hypocritical, or to say one thing while meaning another. Sanskrit taking a clue of this idiom have following to say ,
विषमा मलिनात्मनो द्विजिह्वा जिह्यगा इव |
जगत्प्राणहरा नित्यं कस्य नोद्वेजकाः खलाः ||
Vishamaa malinaatmano dvijihvaa jihyagaa iva.
Jagatpraanaharaa nityam kasya nodvejakaah khalaah.
Vishamaa = dishonest, rude..
Malinaatmano = impure minded, crooked.
Dvijihvaa = double tongued.
Jihmagaa = snakes.
Iva = like.
Jagatpraanaharaa = jagat + praana + haraa
Jagat = mankind, people.
Praanaharaa = taking away or threatening life.
Nityam = always.
Kasya = whose,
Nodvejakaah = na + udvejakaah.
Na = not.
Udvejakaha = causing pain and sorrow.
Khalaah = wicked persons.
i.e. Have the evil and vile people who are dishonest and have bad nature, who have double tongue like snakes and who always put the common people in danger of death, never caused pain and suffering to anyone?
In this proverb, wicked people are compared to snakes. Snakes have a forked tongue, and comparing the tongue of wicked people to that of snakes means that they say one thing but do something else. Just as a snake's forked tongue can flick and taste the air in multiple directions, a person "speaking with a forked tongue" can offer contradictory or insincere statements.
