Shloka 3

Devanagari script

अश्वस्तनो5थ कापोतीम॒श्रितोवृत्तिमाहरेत्‌ । तेषां पर: परो ज्यायान्‌ धर्मतो धर्मजित्तम:

Transliteration

aśvastano ’tha kāpotīm āśrito vṛttim āharet | teṣāṃ paraḥ paro jyāyān dharmato dharmajittamaḥ ||

Translation

Entonces debe adoptarse el sustento del “pichón”, esto es, un modo de subsistencia inofensivo y no violento. Entre esos modos de vida, cada uno que sigue se tiene por superior al anterior; y el mejor es aquel que, por la rectitud, resulta más victorioso en la rectitud.

Word by Word

अश्वस्तनःAshvastana (a person’s name)

अथthen/now

कापोतीम्the pigeon (female)/Kapoti (pigeon-story)

आश्रितःhaving resorted to/depending on

वृत्तिम्livelihood/means of subsistence

आहरेत्should bring/should procure

तेषाम्of them

परःthe other/superior

परःthe other (one)

ज्यायान्greater/superior

धर्मतःaccording to dharma/from the standpoint of dharma

धर्मजित्one who conquers by dharma / dharma-conqueror

तमःhim

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

kāpotī-vṛtti (pigeon-like livelihood)

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches a graded ethic of living: adopt a harmless, non-hoarding livelihood (symbolized by the pigeon), and recognize that higher ways of life are those that increasingly embody dharma—true excellence is ‘victory’ achieved through righteousness rather than force or gain.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa is describing and ranking modes of livelihood/discipline for a dharma-oriented life. He recommends the ‘pigeon-like’ subsistence as a model of gentle, non-injurious living, and states that among such options, the superior person is the one who most fully prevails through dharma.