Shloka 64

Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption

Devanagari script

भर्तृपिण्डमुपाश्नन्‌ यो राजद्विष्टानि सेवते । सो<5पि मोहसमापन्नो मृतो जायति वानर:,जो पुरुष राजाके टुकड़े खाकर पलता हुआ भी मोहवश उसके शत्रुओंकी सेवा करता है, वह मरनेके बाद वानर होता है

Transliteration

bhartṛpiṇḍam upāśnan yo rājadvīṣṭāni sevate | so 'pi mohasamāpanno mṛto jāyati vānaraḥ ||

Translation

„Selbst wenn ein Mann vom königlichen Gnadengeschenk lebt, wird er, wenn er—vom Wahn befangen—den Feinden des Königs dient, nach dem Tod als Affe wiedergeboren.“

Word by Word

भर्तृपिण्डम्the master’s morsel/food (what is given by the master)

उपाश्नन्eating/partaking

यःwho

राजद्विष्टानिthose hated by the king (the king’s enemies)

सेवतेserves/attends

सःhe

अपिeven/also

मोहसमापन्नःfallen into delusion

मृतःdead; having died

जायतेis born

वानरःa monkey

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

rāja (the king)

rājadvīṣṭāḥ (the king’s enemies)

vānara (monkey, as a rebirth state)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

One should not accept a ruler’s protection and sustenance while aiding or serving that ruler’s enemies. Such double-dealing, born of delusion (moha), is treated as adharma and is said to bring a degrading rebirth.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Yudhiṣṭhira’s discourse on conduct and duty, he states a moral consequence: a person who lives on the king’s support yet serves those hostile to the king is condemned, with the text assigning a specific karmic result—rebirth as a monkey.