Mahabharata 7.194.39 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 194, Shloka 39
श्वपाकवन्म्लेच्छगणान् हत्वा चान्यान् पृथग्विधान् । अज्ञानान्मूढवद् ब्रह्मन् पुत्रदारधनेप्सया
śvapākavan mlecchagaṇān hatvā cānyān pṛthagvidhān | ajñānān mūḍhavad brahman putradāradhanepsayā ||
Sañjaya sprach: „O Brahmane, obgleich du ein Kenner des Brahman bist, hast du, getrieben von Gier nach Sohn, Frau und Reichtum, — wie ein unwissender Tor, wie ein niederer Ausgestoßener — Scharen von Mlecchas und viele andere Gruppen verschiedenster Art erschlagen. Wie kann solche Gewalt aus einem hervorgehen, der die höchste Wahrheit kennt?“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse criticizes the contradiction between spiritual knowledge (being a brahmavit) and conduct driven by craving for worldly attachments—son, spouse, and wealth—leading to unethical violence. It frames such killing as arising from ignorance and delusion, not from true wisdom.
Sañjaya reports a rebuke directed at a learned ‘Brahman’: despite claiming higher knowledge, he is accused of slaughtering many groups (mlecchas and others) out of worldly desire, likened rhetorically to the behavior of an ignorant outcaste.
Ask anything about this verse
Curious about the meaning, context, or a word? Ask, and continue the conversation in the Vedapath app.
A free Google sign-in keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Mahabharata in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.