Shloka 4
Yayāti’s Abdication and Pūru’s Coronation (ययाति-पूोरु-राज्याभिषेकः)
(अधीयान हित राजन् क्षमावन्तं जितेन्द्रियम् ।) यदघातयिथा विप्रं कचमाड्रिरसं तदा । अपापशीलं धर्मज्ञ शुश्रूषुं मदगृहे रतम्,“राजन! अंगिराके पौत्र कच विशुद्ध ब्राह्मण हैं। वे स्वाध्याय-परायण, हितैषी, क्षमावान् और जितेन्द्रिय हैं, स्वभावसे ही निष्पाप और धर्मज्ञ हैं तथा उन दिनों मेरे घरमें रहकर निरन्तर मेरी सेवामें संलग्न थे, परंतु तुमने उनका बार-बार वध करवाया था
vaiśampāyana uvāca | (adhīyāna hita rājan kṣamāvantaṁ jitendriyam |) yad aghātayithā vipraṁ kacam āḍrirasaṁ tadā | apāpaśīlaṁ dharmajña śuśrūṣuṁ madagṛhe ratam |
Vaiśampāyana said: “O King, that brāhmaṇa Kaca—grandson of Aṅgiras—was devoted to study, well-wishing, patient, and self-controlled. By nature he was sinless and discerning in dharma, and in those days he lived in my house, constantly engaged in serving me. Yet you had him killed again and again.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames ethical judgment through character: a person devoted to study, self-restraint, patience, and service is presented as intrinsically worthy of protection. Repeatedly causing such a blameless brāhmaṇa to be killed is condemned as a grave breach of dharma, regardless of motive or rivalry.
Vaiśampāyana recounts that Kaca, a brāhmaṇa of the Aṅgirasa lineage, was living in the narrator’s household and serving faithfully. The king being addressed had nevertheless arranged for Kaca’s death multiple times, and the speaker highlights Kaca’s virtues to underscore the wrongdoing.