Shloka 17
अध्याय १५२: लोभः पापस्य मूलम् — Greed as the Root of Wrongdoing
न भयाजन्न च कार्पण्यान्न लोभात् त्वामुपाह्नये । तां मे दैवीं गिरं सत्यां शृणु त्वं ब्राह्मणै:ः सह
na bhayāj na ca kārpaṇyān na lobhāt tvām upāhvaye | tāṁ me daivīṁ giraṁ satyāṁ śṛṇu tvaṁ brāhmaṇaiḥ saha, rājan |
Ô roi ! Je ne te fais pas venir par crainte, ni par misère, ni par avidité. Avec ces brahmanes, écoute attentivement mes paroles véridiques — des paroles aussi solennelles et impérieuses qu’une sentence divine.
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The speaker establishes ethical credibility: counsel should not be motivated by fear, weakness, or greed. True instruction to a ruler must be grounded in satya (truth) and delivered with the gravity of dharmic, almost ‘divine’ authority.
Śaunaka addresses a king and urges him—along with assembled Brahmins—to listen carefully. He prefaces his forthcoming statement by clarifying that he is not calling the king for self-interested reasons, but to speak a truthful, weighty message.