Shloka 12
Brāhmaṇa-māhātmya: Tārkṣya’s instruction on tapas, satya, and svadharma
Chapter 182
कामक्रोधसमायुक्तो हिंसालो भसमन्वित: । मनुष्यत्वात् परिभ्रष्टस्तिर्यग्योनौ प्रसूयते,राजेन्द्र! इसके विपरीत कारण उपस्थित होनेपर मनुष्ययोनिमें तथा पशु-पक्षी आदि योनिमें जन्म लेना पड़ता है। तात! पशु-पक्षी आदि योनियोंमें जन्म लेनेका जो विशेष कारण है, उसे भी यहाँ बतलाया जाता है। जो काम, क्रोध, लोभ और हिंसामें तत्पर होकर मानवतासे भ्रष्ट हो जाता है, अपनी मनुष्य होनेकी योग्यताको भी खो देता है, वही पशु- पक्षी आदि योनिमें जन्म पाता है
sarpa uvāca | kāma-krodha-samāyukto hiṁsā-lobha-samanvitaḥ | manuṣyatvāt paribhraṣṭas tiryag-yonau prasūyate, rājendra |
The serpent said: “O best of kings, one who is driven by desire and anger, and possessed of violence and greed, falls away from true human conduct. Having slipped from the state of humanity, he is born into an animal womb.”
सर्प उवाच
Educational Q&A
Indulgence in desire and anger, together with greed and violence, erodes one’s humanity; such moral collapse is presented as a karmic cause for rebirth in non-human (animal/bird) wombs.
A serpent addresses a king and explains a principle of karmic consequence: certain destructive dispositions (kāma, krodha, lobha, hiṁsā) lead a person to fall from human status and be reborn among animals.