Shloka 18

Devanagari script

तस्य तेनानुभावेन मृगहिंसात्मनस्तदा । तपो महत्समुच्छिन्नं तस्माद्धिंसा न यज्ञिया,मैं उस पशुका वध करके स्वर्गलोक प्राप्त करूँगा; यह सोचकर मृगकी हिंसा करनेके लिये उद्यत उस ब्राह्मणका महान्‌ तप तत्काल नष्ट हो गया। इसलिये हिंसा यज्ञके लिये हितकर नहीं है

Transliteration

tasya tenānubhāvena mṛga-hiṃsātmanas tadā | tapo mahatsamucchinnaṃ tasmād dhiṃsā na yajñiyā ||

Translation

Nārada sprach: Durch die Macht jener Absicht, als der Brahmane sich daranmachte, einem Hirsch Gewalt anzutun—im Gedanken: „Wenn ich dieses Tier töte, werde ich den Himmel erlangen“—wurde seine große Askese augenblicklich abgeschnitten. Darum ist Gewalt dem Opfer nicht wahrhaft zuträglich (und auch nicht als gerechtes Mittel gebilligt).

Word by Word

तस्यof him/its

तेनby that/through that

अनुभावेनby the influence/effect

मृगof a deer; deer

हिंसाviolence/killing

आत्मनःof (one) whose nature is; of the self

तदाthen/at that time

तपःausterity/penance

महत्great

समुच्छिन्नम्cut off/destroyed

तस्मात्therefore/from that

हिंसाviolence

नnot

यज्ञियाfit for sacrifice; sacrificial

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārada

a brāhmaṇa (unnamed)

mṛga (deer/animal)

svarga (heaven) (implied by the accompanying sense)

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?

Even when justified by a pious-sounding goal (like attaining heaven), the intention to harm living beings undermines spiritual merit; violence is not truly ‘yajñiya’—not a righteous or beneficial means for sacrifice and dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada describes a brahmin who becomes eager to kill a deer, reasoning that the act will lead to heaven; at that very moment, the brahmin’s accumulated tapas is said to be destroyed, and Nārada concludes that violence is not proper for yajña.