Shloka 8

धन-यज्ञ-दानविवेकः

Wealth, Sacrifice, and Disciplined Giving

Devanagari script

कृच्छाच्च द्रव्यसंहारं कुर्वन्ति धनकारणात्‌ । धनेन तृषितो<बुद्धया भ्रूणहत्यां न बुद्धयते,“लोग धनके लिये बड़े कष्टसे नाना प्रकारके द्रव्योंका संग्रह करते हैं। परंतु धनके लिये प्यासा हुआ मनुष्य अज्ञानवश भ्रूणहत्या-जैसे पापका भागी हो जाता है, इस बातको वह नहीं समझता

Transliteration

kṛcchāc ca dravyasaṃhāraṃ kurvanti dhanakāraṇāt | dhanena tṛṣito 'buddhyā bhrūṇahatyāṃ na buddhyate ||

Translation

Poussés par le désir de richesse, les hommes, au prix de grandes peines, amassent des biens variés. Mais celui que la soif d’argent dessèche, faute de discernement, ne voit pas qu’il peut se trouver mêlé à des péchés aussi lourds que le meurtre d’un embryon.

Word by Word

कृच्छात्from/with hardship

चand

द्रव्यसंहारम्accumulation/collection of wealth

कुर्वन्तिthey do/make

धनकारणात्for the sake of wealth / because of wealth

धनेनby/with wealth

तृषितःthirsting, greedy

अबुद्ध्याthrough ignorance / lack of understanding

भ्रूणहत्याम्killing of an embryo (a grave sin)

नnot

बुद्ध्यतेis understood / he understands

Speaker

देवस्थान उवाच

Characters & Entities

ध

धन (wealth)

द

द्रव्य (material goods)

भ

भ्रूण (embryo)

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Craving for wealth can eclipse moral discernment; when one becomes "thirsty" for money, one may commit or abet extremely grave wrongdoing without even recognizing it as sin.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker (Devastāna) is delivering a dharma-oriented admonition: people labor intensely to accumulate wealth, but obsession with it leads to ethical blindness, so that even acts comparable to bhrūṇahatya can be incurred unknowingly.