Shloka 9

अग्निनाम-प्रादुर्भावः प्रायश्चित्त-विधानं च

Agni’s Epithets, Manifestations, and Expiation Procedures

Devanagari script

पापं चिन्तयते चैव ब्रवीति च करोति च । तस्याधर्मप्रवृत्तस्य गुणा नश्यन्ति साधव:,रागरूपी दोषके कारण उसके द्वारा तीन प्रकारके अधर्म होने लगते हैं--१. वह मनसे पापका चिन्तन करता है, २. वाणीसे पापकी ही बात बोलता है और 3३. क्रियाद्वारा भी पापका ही आचरण करता है। इस प्रकार अधर्ममें लग जानेपर उसके सभी अच्छे गुण नष्ट हो जाते हैं

Transliteration

pāpaṃ cintayate caiva bravīti ca karoti ca | tasyādharmapravṛttasya guṇā naśyanti sādhavaḥ ||

Translation

He thinks of sin, speaks of it, and acts it out. When a person thus turns toward adharma, his good qualities—those that make one truly decent—are destroyed.

Word by Word

• [{'sanskrit': 'pāpam', 'gloss': 'sin, wrongdoing, harmful act'}, {'sanskrit': 'cintayate', 'gloss': 'he thinks, contemplates (mentally entertains)'}, {'sanskrit': 'bravīti', 'gloss': 'he says, speaks'}, {'sanskrit': 'karoti', 'gloss': 'he does, performs'}, {'sanskrit': 'caiva / ca', 'gloss': 'and indeed / and (linking the three modes: thought, speech, action)'}, {'sanskrit': 'tasya', 'gloss': 'of him, for that person'}, {'sanskrit': 'adharma-pravṛttasya', 'gloss': 'of one engaged in adharma

• one who has set himself in unrighteous conduct'}, {'sanskrit': 'guṇāḥ', 'gloss': 'qualities, virtues, good traits'}, {'sanskrit': 'naśyanti', 'gloss': 'perish, are ruined, disappear'}, {'sanskrit': 'sādhavaḥ', 'gloss': 'good/noble (qualities or persons)

• here: the good virtues (sādhūn guṇān)'}]

Speaker

व्याध उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyādha (the hunter)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Wrongdoing becomes entrenched through three channels—thought, speech, and action. When one repeatedly turns toward adharma in these ways, one’s virtues (guṇas) erode and are ultimately lost.

What is happening in the narrative?

The Vyādha is instructing his listener in dharma, warning that moral decline begins internally (mental intention), then expresses itself verbally, and finally culminates in conduct—after which good character is destroyed.