Shloka 1

Kīṭopākhyāna: Prajā-pālana as Kṣatra-vrata and the Attainment of Brāhmaṇya

Devanagari script

अड-#-#रू+ षोडशाधिकशततमोब<्ध्याय: मांस न खानेसे लाभ और अहिंसाधर्मकी प्रशंसा युधिछिर उवाच इमे वै मानवा लोके नृशंसा मांसगृद्धिन: । विसृज्य विविधान्‌ भक्ष्यान्‌ महारक्षोगणा इव

Transliteration

Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: ime vai mānavā loke nṛśaṃsā māṃsagṛddhinaḥ | visṛjya vividhān bhakṣyān mahārakṣogaṇā iva ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Alas, Grandfather! In this world there are men who are cruel and greedy for flesh. Casting aside many kinds of wholesome foods, they crave the taste of meat like great hordes of rākṣasas.”

Word by Word

• युधिष्ठिरः: Yudhiṣṭhira
• युधिष्ठिरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: युधिष्ठिर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• उवाच: said
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• इमे: these
• इमे: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• वै: indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (निपात)

• मानवाः: men, humans
• मानवाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मानव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• लोके: in the world
• लोके: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• नृशंसाः: cruel, ruthless
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नृशंस (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• मांसगृद्धिनः: greedy for meat
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मांसगृद्धि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• विसृज्य: having abandoned
• Type: Verb
• Root: सृज् (धातु) + वि- (उपसर्ग)
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage)

• विविधान्: various
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विविध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• भक्ष्यान्: edible foods, eatables
• भक्ष्यान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: भक्ष्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• महारक्षोगणाः: great hosts of rākṣasas
• Type: Noun
• Root: महारक्षोगण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• इव: like, as if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव (निपात)

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• rākṣasas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse condemns cruelty and meat-craving as ethically degrading, implying that choosing non-violent, wholesome foods aligns better with dharma and compassion (ahiṃsā).

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anuśāsana Parva’s discussion praising ahiṃsā and the benefits of avoiding meat, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Bhīṣma (pitāmaha) and laments that people abandon many foods to pursue meat, likening them to rākṣasas.