Shloka 13

Devanagari script

मतंग उवाच कि मां तुदसि दुःखार्त मृतं मारयसे च माम्‌

Transliteration

Mataṅga uvāca: ki māṁ tudasi duḥkhārtaṁ mṛtaṁ mārayaṣe ca mām?

Translation

Mātaṅga said, “Why do you torment me? I am already stricken with suffering—indeed as good as dead—yet you still seek to kill me.”

Word by Word

• मतङ्गः: Matanga
• मतङ्गः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मतङ्ग
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

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

• किम्: why/what
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: किम्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• माम्: me
• माम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: —, Accusative, Singular

• तुदसि: you strike/pierce
• Type: Verb
• Root: तुद्
• Form: Present (Laṭ), 2nd, Singular

• दुःखार्तम्: afflicted with sorrow
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दुःखार्त
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• मृतम्: dead (as if dead)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मृत
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• मारयसे: you cause to die/kill
• Type: Verb
• Root: मृ
• Form: Present (Laṭ), Causative (ṇic), 2nd, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• माम्: me
• माम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: —, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

मतंग उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mataṅga

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse condemns needless cruelty: when a being is already overwhelmed by pain, further harm becomes ethically indefensible. It implicitly appeals to compassion and restraint as marks of dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mataṅga speaks in protest to an aggressor, questioning why he is being tormented and threatened with death despite already being in extreme distress—highlighting the moral ugliness of attacking the helpless.