Shloka 28
ययाति–देवयानी संवादः
Yayāti–Devayānī Dialogue and Śukra’s Consent
गा रक्षन्तं वने दृष्टवा रहस्येकममर्षिता: । जघ्नुर्बृहस्पतेद्?ैषाद् विद्यारक्षार्थमेव च,इस प्रकार वहाँ रहकर ब्रह्मचर्य त्रतका पालन करते हुए कचके पाँच सौ वर्ष व्यतीत हो गये। तब दानवोंको यह बात मालूम हुई। तदनन्तर कचको वनके एकान्त प्रदेशमें अकेले गौएँ चराते देख बृहस्पतिके द्वेषसे और संजीवनी विद्याकी रक्षाके लिये क्रोधमें भरे हुए दानवोंने कचको मार डाला
gā rakṣantaṁ vane dṛṣṭvā rahasy ekam amarṣitāḥ | jaghnur bṛhaspateḥ dveṣād vidyā-rakṣārtham eva ca ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Seeing Kaca alone in the forest, guarding the cows in a secluded spot, the asuras—seized by resentment—killed him, driven both by hostility toward Bṛhaspati’s line and by the determination to protect the secret of the reviving knowledge (sañjīvanī) from being obtained.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how envy and factional hatred can drive people to unethical violence, even against a solitary, duty-bound student. It also frames sacred knowledge as something communities may try to guard—yet the means of guarding it (murder) becomes a moral failure, contrasting secrecy and power with dharmic restraint.
Kaca, alone in a secluded part of the forest while tending cattle, is spotted by the asuras. Fearing he will obtain the sañjīvanī-vidyā and motivated by hostility toward Bṛhaspati’s side, they kill him to prevent that knowledge from passing to their rivals.