Shloka 13
Adhyāya 3: Indra’s Invitation and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Refusal to Abandon the Dog
Svargārohaṇa Test
इन्द्र रवाच शुना दृष्ट क्रोधवशा हरन्ति यद्दत्तमिष्टं विवृतमथो हुतं च । तस्माच्छुनस्त्यागमिमं कुरुष्व शुनस्त्यागाद् प्राप्स्यसे देवलोकम्,इन्द्रने कहा--वीरवर! मनुष्य जो कुछ दान, यज्ञ, स्वाध्याय और हवन आदि पुण्यकर्म करता है, उसपर यदि कुत्तेकी दृष्टि भी पड़ जाय तो उसके फलको क्रोधवश नामक राक्षस हर ले जाते हैं; इसलिये इस कुत्तेका त्याग कर दो। कुत्तेको त्याग देनेसे ही तुम देवलोकमें पहुँच सकोगे
indra uvāca—śunā dṛṣṭāḥ krodhavaśā haranti yad dattam iṣṭaṁ vivṛtam atho hutaṁ ca | tasmāc chunas tyāgam imaṁ kuruṣva śunas tyāgād prāpsyase devalokam ||
Indra said: “If a dog so much as casts its gaze upon what a man has earned through merit—what he has given in charity, what he has offered in sacrifice, what he has recited in sacred study, and what he has poured into the fire—then the demonic forces called ‘Krodhavaśa’ seize away the fruit of those acts. Therefore, abandon this dog. Only by giving up the dog will you attain the world of the gods.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral dilemma: heavenly reward is offered on the condition of abandoning a dependent creature. Indra’s argument appeals to ritual purity and preservation of merit’s fruit, while the broader episode tests whether dharma is merely ritual success or steadfast compassion and fidelity to those who seek refuge.
At the threshold of heaven, Indra addresses Yudhiṣṭhira and urges him to leave behind the dog that has accompanied him. Indra claims that a dog’s gaze causes the fruits of charity, sacrifice, sacred recitation, and fire-offerings to be stolen by beings called Krodhavaśa, and therefore Yudhiṣṭhira must abandon the dog to enter Devaloka.