Shloka 22

कण्वोपदेशः—नश्वरबलविवेकः तथा मातलिगुणकेश्याः आख्यानारम्भः

Kaṇva’s Counsel on Impermanent Power; Opening of the Mātali–Guṇakeśī Narrative

Devanagari script

नरनारायणावूचतु: अपेतक्रोधलोभो5यमाश्रमो राजसत्तम

Transliteration

nara-nārāyaṇāv ūcatuḥ—apeta-krodha-lobho ’yam āśramo rājasattama; na cātra kadācana yuddhaṃ bhavati; tasmād astra-śastra-dharo vakra-mano-vṛttir manuṣyo ’tra kathaṃ vaset? pṛthivyāṃ bahavaḥ kṣatriyāḥ santi; tasmād anyatra gatvā yuddhābhilāṣaṃ pūraya.

Translation

قال نارا ونارايَنة: «يا أفضلَ الملوك، إن هذا الأشرم (معتكف الزهاد) منزَّهٌ عن الغضب والطمع. لا تقع فيه حربٌ قط. فكيف يمكث هنا رجلٌ يحمل السلاح ويُضمر نيةً ملتويةً طالبةً للقتال؟ إن في الأرض كَثِيرًا من الكشاتريا؛ فاذهب إلى غير هذا الموضع وأشبِع رغبتك في الحرب.»

Word by Word

• {'nara-nārāyaṇau': 'Nara and Nārāyaṇa (the two divine sages)', 'ūcatuḥ': 'they two said', 'apeta': 'departed from, free of', 'krodha': 'anger', 'lobha': 'greed', 'āśrama': 'hermitage

• stage of disciplined life', 'rājasattama': 'best among kings', 'kadācana': 'ever, at any time', 'yuddha': 'war, battle', 'astra-śastra': 'missile weapons and hand-weapons', 'dhara': 'bearing, carrying', 'vakra': 'crooked, deceitful', 'mano-vṛtti': 'mental disposition, tendency of mind', 'manuṣya': 'man, person', 'vaset': 'should dwell, could live', 'pṛthivī': 'the earth', 'bahavaḥ': 'many', 'kṣatriya': 'warrior-noble, member of the ruling/warrior class', 'anyatra': 'elsewhere', 'gatvā': 'having gone', 'yuddha-abhilāṣa': 'desire for battle', 'pūraya': 'fulfill, satisfy'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Nara
• Nārāyaṇa
• āśrama (hermitage)
• astra-śastra (weapons)
• kṣatriyas
• pṛthivī (earth)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A sacred hermitage is defined by inner discipline—freedom from anger and greed—and by the absence of violence. One whose mind is bent toward conflict and who carries weapons is ethically out of place there; spiritual spaces require restraint and purity of intention.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nara and Nārāyaṇa address a king (rājasattama), stating that their āśrama is free from anger, greed, and warfare. They question how an armed, war-inclined person could stay there and advise him to go elsewhere—among the many kṣatriyas on earth—to satisfy his wish for battle.