Shloka 16

Devanagari script

एतान्येव तु कर्माणि क्रियमाणानि मानवा: । येषु येषु निमित्तेषु न लिप्यन्तेडथ तान्‌ शृणु,अब जिन-जिन कारणोंके होनेपर इन कर्मोौंको करते रहनेपर भी मनुष्य पापसे लिप्त नहीं होते, उनका वर्णन सुनो

Transliteration

etāny eva tu karmāṇi kriyamāṇāni mānavāḥ | yeṣu yeṣu nimitteṣu na lipyante ’tha tān śṛṇu ||

Translation

Namun, tindakan-tindakan yang sama ini, ketika dilakukan manusia, dalam keadaan-keadaan tertentu tidak menimbulkan noda dosa. Sekarang dengarkan sebab-sebabnya.

Word by Word

एतानिthese

एवindeed/only

तुbut/and

कर्माणिactions/deeds

क्रियमाणानिbeing done/performed

मानवाःmen/humans

येषुin which (cases/circumstances)

येषुin which (again: whichever)

निमित्तेषुin the causes/occasions

नnot

लिप्यन्तेare tainted/are smeared (with sin)

अथnow/then

तान्those (circumstances/causes)

शृणुhear/listen

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

mānavāḥ (human beings)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Moral culpability is not determined by the mere performance of an act; it depends on the qualifying circumstances (nimitta) under which the act is done. Vyāsa signals that certain contexts render the same actions non-tainting (na lipyante), preparing a nuanced discussion of dharma beyond simplistic rule-following.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the didactic setting of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa addresses his listener(s) and introduces an upcoming classification: he will enumerate the specific situations in which continuing to perform certain actions does not lead to sin. This verse functions as a transition into that detailed explanation.