Shloka 2736

Devanagari script

ब्रह्महत्या फलं तस्य यै: कृतं नावबुध्यते । “महाबाहो! मुझे धर्मकी श्रेष्ठ गति विदित है। जो मनुष्य किसीके किये हुए उपकारको याद नहीं रखता, उसे ब्रह्महत्याका पाप लगता है

Transliteration

brahmahatyā phalaṁ tasya yaiḥ kṛtaṁ nāvabudhyate | mahābāho! mām̐ dharmasya śreṣṭhā gatiḥ viditā | yo manuṣyaḥ kasyacit kṛtam upakāraṁ na smarati, tasya brahmahatyā-pāpaṁ lagati |

Translation

Sañjaya said: “The consequence of brahmahatyā—brahmin-slaying—falls upon the one who fails to recognize the good that has been done to him. Mighty-armed one, I know the highest course of dharma: whoever does not remember another’s benefaction incurs the sin of brahmahatyā.”

Word by Word

ब्रह्महत्याthe sin of brahma-slaying (brahmahatyā)

फलम्fruit, result

तस्यof him/that (of that person)

यैःby whom/with which (by those who)

कृतम्done, performed

नnot

अवबुध्यतेis understood/recognized

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

mahābāho (addressee, unspecified in the given excerpt)

brahmahatyā (sin as a concept)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

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 ingratitude—failing to acknowledge and remember a benefaction—with a grave moral fault, stating that such denial of received good accrues the heavy sin symbolized by brahmahatyā. It frames gratitude as a key marker of the ‘highest course of dharma’.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya delivers a moral reflection within the war narrative, addressing a heroic listener (“mahābāho”) and emphasizing ethical conduct—specifically, the duty to recognize and remember help received—by warning of severe karmic consequence for ingratitude.