Shloka 24
कुमाराभिषेकप्रश्नः — Inquiry into Kumāra (Skanda) Investiture at Sarasvatī
“जो प्राणधारी मानव आचार्य, ऋत्विज, गुरु और वृद्ध पुरुषोंका अपमान करते हैं, वे भी यहाँ राक्षस होते हैं ।। तत् कुरुध्वमिहास्माकं तारणं द्विजसत्तमा: । शक्ता भवन्त: सर्वेषां लोकानामपि तारणे
yo prāṇadhārī mānava ācārya-ṛtvij-guru-vṛddha-puruṣānām apamānaṃ kurvanti, te 'pi iha rākṣasā bhavanti. tat kurudhvam ihāsmākaṃ tāraṇaṃ dvijasattamāḥ; śaktā bhavantaḥ sarveṣāṃ lokānām api tāraṇe.
Vaiśampāyana dit : «Les hommes vivants qui insultent leurs maîtres, les prêtres officiants, leurs précepteurs spirituels et les anciens vénérables deviennent, dès ici-bas, semblables à des rākṣasas. C’est pourquoi, ô le meilleur des deux-fois-nés, accomplissez ici ce qui nous apportera la délivrance ; vous êtes capables de sauver même tous les mondes.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames disrespect toward teachers, priests, gurus, and elders as a grave ethical violation that dehumanizes a person—making them ‘rākṣasa-like’—and it urges the learned (dvijas) to act as rescuers by upholding and restoring dharma.
Vaiśaṃpāyana describes a moral classification: certain living humans become rākṣasas by their conduct, especially by insulting revered authorities. He then appeals to eminent Brahmins to undertake an act of ‘tāraṇa’—a saving intervention—implying that their spiritual power and right action can bring deliverance even on a cosmic scale.