Shloka 15

Devanagari script

यः पापेभ्य: पापतमस्तेषामधम एव सः

Transliteration

yaḥ pāpebhyaḥ pāpatamas teṣām adhama eva saḥ

Translation

Mātaṅga said: “He who is the most sinful among sinners is, among them, the very lowest.”

Word by Word

• यः: who
• यः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पापेभ्यः: from/than sins (evil deeds)
• पापेभ्यः: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप
• Form: Neuter, Ablative, Plural

• पापतमः: most sinful
• पापतमः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पाप
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, Superlative (तमप्)

• तेषाम्: of them
• तेषाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• अधमः: lowest, vilest
• अधमः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अधम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, Positive

• एव: indeed, just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

मतंग उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Matanga

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse asserts a moral hierarchy: among those engaged in wrongdoing, the one who surpasses others in sinfulness is deemed the lowest. It functions as an ethical warning that deeper entrenchment in pāpa leads to greater moral degradation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva, Matanga is speaking in a didactic context, delivering a concise judgment about the relative baseness of conduct. The line serves as a pointed maxim within a broader instruction on dharma and ethical discernment.