Shloka 5

Devanagari script

गृहमेधिव्रतान्यत्र महान्तीह प्रचक्षते । नात्मार्थे पाचयेदन्नं न वृथा घातयेत्‌ पशून्‌,गृहस्थोंके लिये शास्त्रोंमें बहुत-से श्रेष्ठ नियम बताये गये हैं। वह केवल अपने ही भोजनके लिये रसोई न बनावे (अपितु देवता, पितर और अतिथियोंके उद्देश्यसे ही बनावे) और पशुहिंसा न करे, क्योंकि यह अनर्थमूलक है

Transliteration

gṛhamedhivratāny atra mahāntīha pracakṣate | nātmārthe pācayed annaṃ na vṛthā ghātayet paśūn |

Translation

Vyāsa sprach: „Hier verkünden die Schriften viele große Gelübde für den Hausvater. Man soll Speise nicht nur um seiner selbst willen kochen; und man soll Tiere nicht ohne Zweck töten, denn solche Gewalt wurzelt in Sinnlosigkeit und führt zu Schaden.“

Word by Word

गृहमेधि-व्रतानिhouseholder-vows/observances

अत्रhere/in this context

महान्तिgreat, important

इहhere

प्रचक्षतेthey declare/describe

नnot

आत्म-अर्थेfor one’s own sake

पाचयेत्should cook

अन्नम्food

नnor/not

वृथाin vain, without purpose

घातयेत्should cause to be killed/should kill

पशून्animals

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that a householder’s life is governed by elevated disciplines: food should not be prepared only for oneself but in a spirit of offering and sharing (aligned with duties toward gods, ancestors, and guests), and one should avoid gratuitous killing of animals, since purposeless violence is ethically destructive.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Vyāsa is laying down normative rules for the gṛhastha (householder) stage of life, emphasizing social responsibility, sacrificial/hospitable orientation of daily living, and restraint from needless harm.