Shloka 13

Ruru–Ḍuṇḍubha Saṃvāda: Śāpa, Mokṣa, and Ahiṃsā-Upadeśa

Chapter 11

Devanagari script

इदं चोवाच वचन रुरुमप्रतिमौजसम्‌ | अहिंसा परमो धर्म: सर्वप्राणभूतां वर,इतना कहकर महायशस्वी विप्रवर सहस्रपादने डुण्डुभका रूप त्यागकर पुनः अपने प्रकाशमान स्वरूपको प्राप्त कर लिया। फिर अनुपम ओजवाले रुरुसे यह बात कही --'समस्त प्राणियोंमें श्रेष्ठ ब्राह्मण! अहिंसा सबसे उत्तम धर्म है

Transliteration

idaṃ covāca vacanaṃ rurum apratimaujasam | ahiṃsā paramo dharmaḥ sarvaprāṇabhūtānāṃ vara ||

Translation

Dann sprach er zu Ruru, dessen Kraft unvergleichlich war: „O Bester unter allen lebenden Wesen, Gewaltlosigkeit (ahiṃsā) ist das höchste Dharma.“ Im Rahmen der Erzählung legt der ruhmreiche Brahmane—der die Gestalt des trommelgleichen Wesens Dundubha angenommen hatte—diese Hülle ab, kehrt zu seiner strahlenden wahren Form zurück und unterweist Ruru mit dieser ethischen Maxime.

Word by Word

• {'idaṃ': 'this', 'ca': 'and', 'uvāca': 'said, spoke', 'vacanam': 'speech, statement, utterance', 'rurum': 'Ruru (proper name

• addressed/mentioned)', 'apratima': 'unequalled, incomparable', 'ojas': 'vigor, energy, spiritual/heroic potency', 'apratimaujasam': 'one whose energy is incomparable', 'ahiṃsā': 'non-violence

• refraining from injury', 'paramaḥ': 'supreme, highest', 'dharmaḥ': 'dharma

• righteous duty, moral law, right conduct', 'sarva': 'all', 'prāṇa': 'breath

• life-force', 'bhūta': 'living being, creature', 'sarvaprāṇabhūtānām': 'of all living beings (those endowed with life-breath)', 'vara': 'best, excellent one (vocative sense: ‘O best…’)'}

Speaker

डुण्ड्रुभ उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Dundubha
• Ruru
• Vipra (brahmin sage; implied as the one speaking/transforming)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that ahiṃsā (non-violence, non-injury) is the highest form of dharma, presented as a universal ethical principle applying to all living beings.

What is happening in the narrative?

A brahmin who had taken the form of Dundubha gives up that assumed form, returns to his radiant true form, and then addresses Ruru with an ethical instruction emphasizing non-violence.