Shloka 186
Adhyāya 118: Saciva-parīkṣā
Testing and Appointment of Ministers/Servants
इयेष त॑ मुनि हन्तुमकृतज्ञ: श्वयोनिज: । तदनन्तर एक दिन रक्तकी प्रबल प्याससे पीड़ित वह शरभ, जो कुत्तेकी जातिसे पैदा होनेके कारण कृतघ्न बन गया था, मुनिको ही मार डालनेकी इच्छा करने लगा
iyeṣa taṁ muniṁ hantum akṛtajñaḥ śvayonijaḥ |
Bhishma said: That ungrateful creature, born of a dog’s kind, conceived the desire to kill the sage. Then one day, tormented by a fierce thirst for blood, that Śarabha—made ungrateful by its canine birth—began to wish to slay the muni himself.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ingratitude (akṛtajñatā) and uncontrolled craving can overturn moral order, leading one to harm benefactors and violate dharma; gratitude and restraint are implied virtues.
A canine-born being, characterized as ungrateful, forms the intention to kill a sage—setting up a cautionary episode about how base impulses can provoke violence against the righteous.