Shloka 21

Arjuna’s request to Krishna and the opening of the Kāśyapa–Brāhmaṇa mokṣa discourse (Āśvamedhika-parva 16)

Devanagari script

जातीमरणतत्त्वज्ञं कोविदं पापपुण्ययो: । द्रष्टारमुच्चनीचानां कर्मभिवदेहिनां गतिम्‌

Transliteration

jātimaraṇatattvajñaṁ kovidaṁ pāpapuṇyayoḥ | draṣṭāram uccanīcānāṁ karmabhir dehināṁ gatiṁ ||

Translation

Le brāhmane dit : « Il connaissait les véritables principes de la naissance et de la mort, et discernait avec maîtrise le péché et le mérite. Il voyait directement les destinées que les êtres incarnés—hauts et bas—atteignent selon leurs actes. »

Word by Word

• जाति-मरण-तत्त्व-ज्ञम्: knower of the truth of birth and death
• जाति-मरण-तत्त्व-ज्ञम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जाति + मरण + तत्त्व + ज्ञ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• कोविदम्: learned, skilled
• कोविदम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कोविद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• पाप-पुण्ययोः: of sin and merit
• पाप-पुण्ययोः: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप + पुण्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Dual

• द्रष्टारम्: seer, witness
• द्रष्टारम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्रष्टृ (प्रातिपदिक; √दृश्)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• उच्च-नीचानाम्: of the high and the low
• उच्च-नीचानाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उच्च + नीच (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• कर्मभिः: by (their) actions
• कर्मभिः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• देहिनाम्: of embodied beings
• देहिनाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: देहिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• गतिम्: course, destiny, state attained
• गतिम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: गति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• ब्राह्मण (the speaking Brahmin)
• सिद्ध महर्षि (a perfected great sage, implied by context)
• काश्यप (Kāśyapa, mentioned in the accompanying narrative prose)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Moral causality governs embodied existence: beings attain higher or lower destinies in accordance with their actions, and true wisdom includes discerning the realities of birth, death, and the ethical weight of merit and sin.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker (a Brahmin) describes an accomplished sage—one who understands birth and death and can discern merit and sin—portraying him as a direct witness of how different beings reach their respective destinies through karma.