Shloka 78
न त्वं वृको महाभाग राजा शतधनुर् भवान् श्वा भूत्वा त्वं शृगालो ऽभूर् वृकत्वं साम्प्रतं गतः
na tvaṃ vṛko mahābhāga rājā śatadhanur bhavān śvā bhūtvā tvaṃ śṛgālo 'bhūr vṛkatvaṃ sāmprataṃ gataḥ
O fortunate one, you are not a wolf—you are King Śatadhanu. Having become a dog, you then became a jackal; and only now have you attained the state of a wolf.
A narrator within the dynastic account (as related by Sage Parāśara to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Karmic consequence and rebirth across species; moral causality within a Manvantara narrative.
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: Royal status and identity are unstable under saṃsāra; conduct (dharma/adharma) ripens into corresponding births and conditions.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Treat power and privilege as impermanent; align choices with dharma to avoid self-degradation in habits and outcomes.
Vishishtadvaita: The jīva’s embodied condition changes by karma while remaining a dependent mode of the Lord’s order (niyati) within saṃsāra.
FAQs
It dramatizes karmic consequence: the king’s identity persists across births, while his embodied state shifts downward and upward according to prior conduct.
By embedding moral causality inside royal genealogies—events in a king’s life and afterlife become lessons on dharma that shape lineage history and social order.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the narrative assumes Vishnu’s sovereignty as the cosmic governor: dharma and karmic law operate within His ordered universe, directing the soul’s course through births.