Shloka 79

योग–सांख्यसमन्वयः, रथोपमा, व्यक्त–अव्यक्तविवेकः

Yoga–Sāṃkhya Synthesis, Chariot Allegory, and the Vyakta–Avyakta Distinction

Devanagari script

कृतघ्ना नास्तिका: पापा गुरुदाराभिमर्शिन:

Transliteration

kṛtaghnā nāstikāḥ pāpā gurudārābhimarśinaḥ

Translation

शक्र ने कहा—कृतघ्न, नास्तिक, पापी और गुरु-पत्नी की मर्यादा का उल्लंघन करने वाले—ऐसे लोग धर्म के विधान से निंदित और आचार-नीति से पतित माने जाते हैं।

Word by Word

• कृतघ्नाः: ungrateful (those who repay good with harm)
• कृतघ्नाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृतघ्न
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• नास्तिकाः: atheists/deniers (of dharma/afterlife/authority)
• नास्तिकाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नास्तिक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• पापाः: sinful, wicked
• पापाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पाप
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• गुरुदाराभिमर्शिनः: those who violate/touch the wife of the guru (seducers of the teacher’s wife)
• गुरुदाराभिमर्शिनः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुरुदाराभिमर्शिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

शक्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śakra (Indra)
• guru (teacher/preceptor)
• guru’s wife (gurudārāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse identifies grave moral failings—ingratitude, denial of dharma, general sinfulness, and especially violating the guru’s household—as behaviors that place a person outside righteous conduct and invite condemnation and adverse consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

Indra (Śakra), speaking within the Shanti Parva’s ethical-discursive setting, lists categories of people marked by serious adharma, emphasizing social and spiritual boundaries—particularly the inviolability of the teacher’s family—as part of moral instruction.