Shloka 5

Devanagari script

ये दोषा यादृशाश्ैव द्विजयज्ञोपघातके । विक्रये चापहारे च ते दोषा वै स्मृता: प्रभो,प्रभो! ब्राह्मणके यज्ञका नाश करनेवाले पुरुषको जैसे और जितने पाप लगते हैं, दूसरोंकी गाय चुराने और बेचनेमें भी वे ही दोष बताये गये हैं

Transliteration

ye doṣā yādṛśāś caiva dvija-yajñopaghātake | vikraye cāpahāre ca te doṣā vai smṛtāḥ prabho ||

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “O lord, the very same faults—of the same kind and measure—that are incurred by one who harms or destroys a Brāhmaṇa’s sacrifice are also declared to be incurred in the selling and in the stealing of another’s cow.”

Word by Word

येwhich, those (who/that)

दोषाःfaults, sins

यादृशाःof what kind, such as

एवindeed, just

द्विजयज्ञोपघातकेin/with regard to one who destroys a Brahmin's sacrifice

विक्रयेin selling

चand

अपहारेin theft, in taking away

चand

तेthose

दोषाःfaults, sins

वैindeed, surely

स्मृताःare declared/remembered (as)

प्रभोO lord

Speaker

पितामह उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma (Pitamah)

Brahmana (dvija)

yajna (sacrifice)

cow (implied by context: ‘others’ cow’)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse equates the moral gravity of harming a Brāhmaṇa’s sacrificial rite with the wrongdoing involved in stealing or selling another person’s cow, stressing that certain acts undermine dharma and social-religious order to a comparable degree.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anuśāsana Parva’s dharma-instruction setting, Bhīṣma (Pitāmaha) is teaching about ethical transgressions and their consequences, classifying the ‘doṣa’ (fault/sin) attached to specific acts—here, damage to sacrifice and the theft/sale of another’s cow.