Shloka 5

Dvaipāyana–Kīṭa Saṃvāda: Karmic Memory, Fear of Death, and Embodied Pleasure

Devanagari script

यथा सर्वश्षतुष्पाद वै त्रिभि: पादैर्न तिष्ठति । तथैवेयं महीपाल कारणै: प्रोच्यते त्रिभि:,महीपाल! जैसे चार पैरोंवाला पशु तीन पैरोंसे नहीं खड़ा रह सकता, उसी प्रकार केवल तीन ही कारणोंसे पालित हुई अहिंसा पूर्णतः: अहिंसा नहीं कही जा सकती

Transliteration

yathā sarvaś catuṣpād vai tribhiḥ pādair na tiṣṭhati | tathaiveyaṃ mahīpāla kāraṇaiḥ procyate tribhiḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma said: “Just as a four-footed creature cannot stand firmly on only three feet, so too, O king, what is maintained or explained on merely three causes cannot be called complete non-violence. True ahiṃsā must rest on all its necessary supports, not on an incomplete foundation.”

Word by Word

यथाjust as

सर्वःevery/any (one)

चतुष्पादःa four-footed (animal)

वैindeed

त्रिभिःwith three

पादैःby/with feet

नnot

तिष्ठतिstands

तथाso/thus

एवindeed/just

इयम्this

महीपालO king (protector of the earth)

कारणैःby means/causes

प्रोच्यतेis said/declared

त्रिभिःby three

महीपालO king

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Mahipala (the king, i.e., Yudhishthira as addressed)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Geographic Context

Sandhi Notes