Shloka 89

Bhīmasena–Hanūmān Saṃvāda: The Tail Test and the Divine Path

Devanagari script

क्रूरेषु कर्मसु कथं देहवाक्चित्तदूषिषु । धर्मघातिषु सज्जन्ते बुद्धिमन्तो भवद्विधा:,किंतु पता नहीं, तुम्हारे-जैसे बुद्धिमानूलोग धर्मका नाश करनेवाले तथा मन, वाणी और शरीरको भी दूषित कर देनेवाले क्रूर कर्मोमें कैसे प्रवृत्त होते हैं?

Transliteration

krūreṣu karmasu kathaṃ deha-vāk-citta-dūṣiṣu | dharma-ghātiṣu sajjante buddhimanto bhavad-vidhāḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “How is it that wise people like you become engaged in cruel actions—actions that defile body, speech, and mind, and that strike down dharma? How can such conduct arise in those endowed with understanding?”

Word by Word

क्रूरेषुin cruel (acts/contexts)

कर्मसुin actions/deeds

कथम्how

देह-वाक्-चित्त-दूषिषुin those (acts) that defile body, speech, and mind

धर्म-घातिषुin those (acts) that destroy dharma

सज्जन्तेbecome attached / engage

बुद्धिमन्तःwise (men)

भवत्-विधाःof your kind / like you

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a moral critique: true wisdom should restrain one from actions that corrupt body, speech, and mind and that undermine dharma. It highlights the ethical expectation that inner discernment must govern outward conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, voices a pointed question to a hearer addressed as “people like you,” challenging how the intelligent can still become involved in dharma-destroying, cruel deeds—setting up reflection on motive, temptation, and ethical lapse.