Shloka 156

ब्रह्मस्वहरण-निषेधः — Prohibition of Appropriating Brahmin Property

Brahmasva

Devanagari script

तुलया धारयन्‌ धर्ममभिमान्यतिरिच्यते । वह तीस नरकोंमें पड़कर अंतमें अपनी ही विष्ठापर जीनेवाला कीड़ा होता है। कुत्तोंको पालना

Transliteration

tulayā dhārayan dharmam abhimāny atiricyate |

Translation

Le Cāṇḍāla dit : «Quand on pèse le dharma sur une balance, l’orgueil l’emporte». Sur le plan éthique, l’idée est que l’arrogance peut devenir plus lourde que la droiture elle-même : un vice si puissant que, comparé à d’autres fautes graves, il fait pencher le plateau et précipite l’homme dans la ruine.

Word by Word

• तुलया: by a balance/scale
• तुलया: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: तुला
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• धारयन्: holding/bearing
• धारयन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: धृ
• Form: शतृ (present active participle), Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• धर्मम्: dharma, righteousness
• धर्मम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अभिमान्य: having become proud / having conceived pride
• Type: Verb
• Root: अभि + मन्
• Form: ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage as gerund), true

• अतिरिच्यते: exceeds / becomes excessive / outweighs
• Type: Verb
• Root: अति + रिच्
• Form: Present (Lat), Atmanepada, Third, Singular

Speaker

चाण्डाल उवाच

Characters & Entities

• चाण्डाल (Chāṇḍāla)
• धर्म (Dharma)
• तुला (balance/scale)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Pride (abhimāna) is portrayed as a uniquely destructive fault: when moral choices are ‘weighed,’ arrogance can outweigh dharma itself, corrupting judgment and leading one away from righteous conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Chāṇḍāla speaker delivers a pointed ethical maxim using the metaphor of a balance: in the moral reckoning of actions and dispositions, pride is said to tip the scale, emphasizing its danger within dharma-discourse in the Anuśāsana Parva.