Shloka 59

Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)

Devanagari script

साध्वन्यमनुपश्य त्वमुपायं प्राणधारणे । न मांसलोभात्‌ तपसो नाशस्ते स्यान्महामुने,“महामुने! अपने प्राणोंकी रक्षाके लिये कोई दूसरा अच्छा-सा उपाय सोचिये। मांसके लोभसे आपकी तपस्याका नाश नहीं होना चाहिये

Transliteration

sādhv anyam anupaśya tvam upāyaṁ prāṇadhāraṇe | na māṁsalobhāt tapaso nāśas te syān mahāmune ||

Translation

Wahai mahāmuni, pertimbangkanlah cara lain yang lebih baik untuk mempertahankan hidup. Jangan sampai tapa-bratamu hancur karena kerakusan akan daging.

Word by Word

साधुwell; properly

अन्यम्another

अनुपश्यconsider; look for

त्वम्you

उपायम्means; method

प्राणधारणेin sustaining life (lit. in life-support)

नnot

मांसलोभात्from desire for meat; due to meat-greed

तपसःof austerity; of penance

नाशःdestruction; ruin

तेyour

स्यात्might be; should be

महामुनेO great sage

Speaker

घपच उवाच

Characters & Entities

mahāmuni (a great sage)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Sustaining one’s life should be done through ethically appropriate means; yielding to greed—here, craving for meat—can undermine spiritual discipline and the merit of austerities.

What is happening in the narrative?

A speaker addresses a great sage, urging him to find an alternative way to preserve his life and warning that succumbing to desire for flesh would cause the sage’s tapas (ascetic power and merit) to be lost.