Mahabharata 7.194.39 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 194, Shloka 39

Devanagari script

श्वपाकवन्म्लेच्छगणान्‌ हत्वा चान्यान्‌ पृथग्विधान्‌ । अज्ञानान्मूढवद्‌ ब्रह्मन्‌ पुत्रदारधनेप्सया

Transliteration

śvapākavan mlecchagaṇān hatvā cānyān pṛthagvidhān | ajñānān mūḍhavad brahman putradāradhanepsayā ||

Translation

Sañjaya dit : «Ô brahmane, bien que tu sois connaisseur de Brahman, poussé par la convoitise d’un fils, d’une épouse et des richesses, tu as—tel un sot dans l’ignorance, tel un paria—massacré des hordes de mlecchas et bien d’autres groupes de toutes sortes. Comment une telle violence peut-elle naître de celui qui connaît la vérité suprême ?»

Word by Word

• श्वपाकवत्: like a caṇḍāla (dog-cooker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: श्वपाक + वत्
• Form: Avyaya (vat-pratyaya used adverbially: 'like/as')

• म्लेच्छगणान्: groups of mlecchas
• म्लेच्छगणान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: म्लेच्छगण
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• हत्वा: having slain
• Type: Verb
• Root: हन्
• Form: Absolutive (ktvānta), 'having killed'

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च
• Form: Conjunction

• अन्यान्: others
• अन्यान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्य
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• पृथग्विधान्: of various distinct kinds
• पृथग्विधान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पृथग्विध
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• अज्ञानात्: from ignorance / due to ignorance
• अज्ञानात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अज्ञान
• Form: Neuter, Ablative, Singular

• मूढवत्: like a fool
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: मूढ + वत्
• Form: Avyaya (vat-pratyaya used adverbially: 'like')

• ब्रह्मन्: O brahmin / O Brahman-knower (address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• पुत्रदारधनेप्सया: by/with the desire for son, wife, and wealth
• पुत्रदारधनेप्सया: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुत्र + दार + धन + ईप्सा
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Brahman (addressed person, unspecified in this verse)
• mleccha-gaṇas (mleccha groups)
• śvapāka (as a comparison)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse criticizes the contradiction between spiritual knowledge (being a brahmavit) and conduct driven by craving for worldly attachments—son, spouse, and wealth—leading to unethical violence. It frames such killing as arising from ignorance and delusion, not from true wisdom.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a rebuke directed at a learned ‘Brahman’: despite claiming higher knowledge, he is accused of slaughtering many groups (mlecchas and others) out of worldly desire, likened rhetorically to the behavior of an ignorant outcaste.