Shloka 59

कल्मषापहर-कीर्तनम् / Kīrtana for the Removal of Impurity

Devanagari script

व्रतवन्तो नरा: केचिच्छुद्धा धर्मपरायणा: । अव्रता भ्रष्टनियमास्तथान्ये राक्षसोपमा:,कुछ मनुष्य व्रतधारी, श्रद्धालु और धर्मपरायण होते हैं तथा दूसरे व्रतहीन, नियमश्रष्ट तथा राक्षसोंके समान होते हैं

Transliteration

vratavanto narāḥ kecic chuddhā dharmaparāyaṇāḥ | avratā bhraṣṭaniyamās tathānye rākṣasopamāḥ ||

Translation

Maheshvara sprach: „Unter den Menschen gibt es einige, die Gelübde halten—rein im Wandel und dem Dharma ergeben. Andere jedoch sind ohne Gelübde, von der Zucht abgefallen und gleichen in ihrem Verhalten den Rākṣasas.“

Word by Word

व्रतवन्तःvow-observing

नराःmen, humans

केचित्some (among them)

शुद्धाःpure

धर्मपरायणाःdevoted to dharma

अव्रताःwithout vows

भ्रष्टनियमाःwhose observances are broken

तथाthus, likewise

अन्येothers

राक्षसोपमाःlike demons (rakshasas)

Speaker

श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śrī-Maheśvara (Śiva)

narāḥ (human beings)

rākṣasāḥ (rākṣasas, demonic beings)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Human beings differ by their commitment to vows and discipline: those grounded in vrata and niyama become purified and dharma-oriented, while those who abandon restraint tend toward destructive, rākṣasa-like conduct. The verse frames ethical life as a matter of sustained self-regulation aligned with dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śrī Maheśvara is speaking in an instructive mode, classifying people into two moral types—disciplined and dharmic versus undisciplined and fallen from observances—so as to emphasize the importance of vows and regulated conduct within the broader Anuśāsana (instruction) context.