Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 137 Shloka 14 - Mahabharata | Gujarati | Vedapath

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Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 14

ब्राह्मण–क्षत्रिय-श्रेष्ठता-विवादः

Arjuna–Vāyu Dialogue on Brāhmaṇa and Kṣatriya Precedence

Devanagari script

ब्राह्मण: क्षत्रियो वैश्य: शूद्रो वा यद्युपोषित:

Transliteration

brāhmaṇaḥ kṣatriyo vaiśyaḥ śūdro vā yadyupoṣitaḥ

Translation

બ્રાહ્મણ, ક્ષત્રિય, વૈશ્ય કે શૂદ્ર—જો તેણે ઉપવાસ ધારણ કર્યો હોય।

Word by Word

ब्राह्मणःa Brahmin

क्षत्रियःa Kshatriya

वैश्यःa Vaishya

शूद्रःa Shudra

वाor

यदिif

उपोषितःhaving fasted; one who has observed a fast

Speaker

रेणुक उवाच

Characters & Entities

Renukā

brāhmaṇa

kṣatriya

vaiśya

śūdra

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a dharma-rule as applicable across the four varṇas: ethical or ritual discipline (here, fasting) is not restricted to a single social group; the relevant obligation or result follows from the act of observance itself.

What is happening in the narrative?

Renukā begins a statement that addresses all four social orders and sets a condition—‘if one is fasting/has fasted’—as the basis for the instruction that follows in the surrounding verses.