Shloka 26

Devanagari script

मया न निहतः: पूर्वमेष युष्मत्प्रियेप्सपा,तुमलोगोंका प्रिय करनेकी इच्छासे ही मैंने इसे पहले नहीं मारा था। यह ब्राह्मणों और यज्ञोंसे द्वेष रखनेवाला तथा धर्मका लोप करनेवाला पापात्मा राक्षस था; इसीलिये इसे मरवा दिया है

Transliteration

mayā na nihataḥ pūrvam eṣa yuṣmat-priya-īpsayā | brāhmaṇānāṁ yajñānāṁ ca dveṣṭā dharma-lopa-karaḥ pāpātmā rākṣasaḥ | tasmād eṣa māritaḥ ||

Translation

Vāyu-deva sprach: „Ich tötete ihn früher nicht, einzig weil ich tun wollte, was euch angenehm ist. Doch dieser Rākṣasa war ein sündhaftes Wesen—er hasste die Brāhmaṇas und die Opferhandlungen und trachtete danach, das Dharma zu vernichten. Darum ist er nun dem Tod preisgegeben worden.“

Word by Word

मयाby me

नnot

निहतःkilled/slain

पूर्वम्formerly/earlier

एषःthis (one)

युष्मत्-प्रिय-ईप्साby the desire to do what is pleasing to you

Speaker

श्रीवायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śrī Vāyu-deva

rākṣasa

brāhmaṇas

yajñas

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames violence as ethically permissible only when directed toward the protection of dharma: a being who actively destroys dharma and attacks brāhmaṇas and yajñas is presented as deserving punishment. It also highlights restraint—Vāyu claims he delayed action out of regard for what would please others, implying that power should be exercised with deliberation and moral purpose.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu-deva explains why a rākṣasa has now been slain. He states that he had not killed the being earlier because he wished to act in a way pleasing to the addressed party, but since the rākṣasa was hostile to brāhmaṇas and sacrificial rites and was undermining dharma, Vāyu ensured (or caused) his death.