Shloka 18
Aṣṭāvakra–Kahoda Upākhyāna: Śvetaketu’s Āśrama, Sarasvatī, and the Origin of Aṣṭāvakra
श्येन उवाच न वराहं न चोक्षाणं न मृगान् विविधांस्तथा । भक्षयामि महाराज कि ममान्येन केनचित्
śyena uvāca na varāhaṃ na cokṣāṇaṃ na mṛgān vividhāṃs tathā | bhakṣayāmi mahārāja ki mamānyena kenacit ||
The hawk said: “O great king, I do not eat boars, nor oxen, nor the many kinds of deer. What need have I of any other food?”
श्येन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights svadharma (one’s own nature-bound duty): a predator’s sustenance is tied to its inherent role, raising an ethical tension between compassion and the natural order.
The hawk addresses a king and asserts that it does not eat large game like boar, ox, or various deer, implying that it seeks a different, specific prey and rejects alternative substitutes.