Mahabharata 3.39.21 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 39, Shloka 21
Arjuna’s Himalayan Departure and the Commencement of Severe Tapas
Janamejaya’s Inquiry; Sages Approach Śiva
न होष मृगयाधर्मो यस्त्वयाद्य कृतो मयि । तेन त्वां भ्रंशयिष्यामि जीवितात् पर्वताश्रयम्
na hoṣa mṛgayādharmo yas tvayādyā kṛto mayi | tena tvāṃ bhraṃśayiṣyāmi jīvitāt parvatāśrayam ||
“এইটো মৃগয়া-ধৰ্ম নহয়—আজি তুমি মোৰ সৈতে যি কৰিলা। সেই অপৰাধৰ বাবে, তুমি পৰ্বতাশ্ৰয়ী হলেও, মই তোমাক জীৱনৰ পৰা পতিত কৰিম।”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse invokes mṛgayā-dharma, the ethical code governing hunting and pursuit, to condemn an act as dishonorable and outside accepted norms; it frames punishment as a consequence of violating dharma.
A speaker denounces another’s conduct as contrary to the proper rules of the hunt and threatens lethal retribution, emphasizing that even a mountain-dweller cannot escape the consequences of wrongdoing.
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