Shloka 22
एवं हि वैश्यशूद्राणां क्षत्रियाणां तथैव च । ये ब्राह्मणान् प्रद्धिषन्ति ते भवन्तीह राक्षसा:,“स्त्रियाँ अपने योनिदोषजनित पाप (व्यभिचार)-से राक्षसी हो जाती हैं। इसी प्रकार क्षत्रिय, वैश्य और शूद्वरोंमेंसे जो लोग ब्राह्मणोंसे द्वेष करते हैं, वे भी इस जगत्में राक्षस होते हैं
evaṃ hi vaiśyaśūdrāṇāṃ kṣatriyāṇāṃ tathaiva ca | ye brāhmaṇān praddhiṣanti te bhavantīha rākṣasāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “So it is indeed: among Vaiśyas and Śūdras, and likewise among Kṣatriyas, those who bear malice toward Brāhmaṇas become, here in this very world, ‘rākṣasas’—people of cruel and destructive disposition.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames hostility toward Brāhmaṇas—seen as custodians of sacred learning and ritual order—as a grave ethical failing that dehumanizes a person, likening such hatred to a ‘rākṣasa’ disposition (cruel, disruptive, anti-dharmic).
Vaiśampāyana, narrating to Janamejaya, states a moral principle within the Shalya Parva context: certain anti-dharmic attitudes—here, enmity toward Brāhmaṇas—are described as causing people (across non-Brāhmaṇa varṇas) to be regarded as ‘rākṣasas’ in this world.