Shloka 46

Adhyaya 3 — The Dharmapakshis’ Past-Life Curse and Indra’s Test of Truthfulness

Sanskrit

भक्षयस्व सुविश्रब्धौ मामत्र द्विजसत्तम ।

आहारीकृतमेतत्ते मया देहमिहात्मनः ॥

Transliteration

bhakṣayasva suviśrabdhau mām atra dvijasattama /

āhārīkṛtam etat te mayā deham ihātmanaḥ //

Translation

હે દ્વિજશ્રેષ્ઠ, અહીં નિઃસંકોચ મને ભક્ષણ કર. તારા હિત માટે મેં મારા પોતાના દેહને અહીં આહારરૂપ બનાવ્યો છે.

Word by Word

• bhakṣayasva: eat (you)
• bhakṣayasva: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhakṣ (धातु)
• Form: Loṭ (लोट्) / Imperative, Ātmanepada (आत्मनेपद), 2nd person (मध्यमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन)

• suviśrabdhaḥ: fully at ease, unhesitating
• suviśrabdhaḥ: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: su + viśrabdha (प्रातिपदिक; from vi-√śrambh)
• Form: Past participle sense ‘confident’; Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); used vocatively in sense addressing the hearer

• mām: me
• mām: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun; Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• atra: here
• atra: Deśa/Adhikaraṇa (देश/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atra (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb of place (देशवाचक)

• dvijasattama: O best of Brahmins
• dvijasattama: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvija + sattama (प्रातिपदिकौ)
• Form: Karmadhāraya (कर्मधारय) ‘best of twice-born’; Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Vocative (सम्बोधन), Singular (एकवचन)

• āhārīkṛtam: made into food
• āhārīkṛtam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: āhāra + √kṛ (धातु) + kta (कृत्)
• Form: Kta-participle (क्त) of causative/denominative sense ‘made into food’; Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative/Accusative (1st/2nd), Singular (एकवचन); predicate to ‘etat’

• etat: this
• etat: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Demonstrative pronoun; Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)

• te: for you
• te: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yusmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun; Dative (4th/चतुर्थी), Singular (एकवचन)

• mayā: by me
• mayā: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun; Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• deham: body
• deham: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• iha: here
• iha: Deśa/Adhikaraṇa (देश/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iha (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb of place (देशवाचक)

• ātmanaḥ: of myself
• ātmanaḥ: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ātman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular (एकवचन)

Speakers

• A self-sacrificing speaker addressing a Brahmin guest (dvijasattama); precise speaker identification depends on recension/context of Adhyaya 3

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "karuna", "secondaryRasa": "vira", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Atithi-seva (hospitality to guests)
• Self-sacrifice
• Compassion
• Ethics of giving

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse dramatizes atithi-dharma taken to an extreme: the host (or benefactor) treats the guest’s sustenance as a paramount duty, even at personal cost. Ethically, it underscores the ideal of self-giving (tyāga) and the prioritization of another’s welfare over one’s own comfort, a recurring purāṇic method of teaching dharma through striking narrative acts.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

This verse is primarily within ācāra/dharma-oriented narrative instruction rather than a direct pancalakṣaṇa topic. Indirectly, it supports the purāṇic function of teaching right conduct alongside sarga/pratisarga, vaṃśa, manvantara, and vaṃśānucarita.

What is the esoteric significance?

Symbolically, “making one’s body into food” can be read as the offering of the embodied self (deha) into a higher principle—dharma. It reflects the purāṇic theme that the body is an instrument for righteous action and sacrifice, and that true ‘nourishment’ is the sustenance of virtue and the protection of the worthy.