Shloka 21
Arjuna’s Himalayan Departure and the Commencement of Severe Tapas
Janamejaya’s Inquiry; Sages Approach Śiva
न होष मृगयाधर्मो यस्त्वयाद्य कृतो मयि । तेन त्वां भ्रंशयिष्यामि जीवितात् पर्वताश्रयम्,“यह मृगयाका धर्म नहीं है, जो आज आपने मेरे साथ किया है। आप पर्वतके निवासी हैं तो भी उस अपराधके कारण मैं आपको जीवनसे वंचित कर दूँगा”
na hoṣa mṛgayādharmo yas tvayādyā kṛto mayi | tena tvāṃ bhraṃśayiṣyāmi jīvitāt parvatāśrayam ||
«Esto no es el debido código de la caza: la conducta que hoy has mostrado conmigo. Por esa ofensa, aunque habites en las montañas, te derribaré de la vida misma.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse invokes mṛgayā-dharma, the ethical code governing hunting and pursuit, to condemn an act as dishonorable and outside accepted norms; it frames punishment as a consequence of violating dharma.
A speaker denounces another’s conduct as contrary to the proper rules of the hunt and threatens lethal retribution, emphasizing that even a mountain-dweller cannot escape the consequences of wrongdoing.