Shloka 13

अध्याय १२८: शिव–उमा संवादः — तिलोत्तमा, श्मशान-मेध्यता, तथा चातुर्वर्ण्य-धर्मः

Chapter 128: Śiva–Umā Dialogue—Tilottamā, the Ritual Valence of the Śmaśāna, and the Fourfold Duty-Code

Devanagari script

अवृत्त्या क्लिश्यमानो<पि वृत्त्युपायान्‌ विगर्हयन्‌ | माहात्म्याद्‌ व्यथसे नूनं तेनासि हरिण: कृश:

Transliteration

avṛttyā kliśyamāno ’pi vṛttyupāyān vigarhayan | māhātmyād vyathase nūnaṃ tenāsi hariṇaḥ kṛśaḥ ||

Translation

婆羅門は言った。「生計の手立てがなく苦しめられているのに、なお汝は、身を支えるために用い得る方途を非難している。自らの矜持と高貴さゆえに、その扶助を受けようとしない。ゆえに汝は必ずや憂いに沈み――そのため鹿のごとく痩せたのだ。」

Word by Word

• {'avṛttyā': 'by lack of livelihood

• due to absence of sustenance/means of living', 'kliśyamānaḥ': 'being afflicted, suffering, tormented', 'api': 'even though', 'vṛtti-upāyān': 'means/methods of livelihood

• ways of earning or maintaining oneself', 'vigarhayan': 'censuring, condemning, disparaging', 'māhātmyāt': 'from greatness

• from a sense of high status/dignity (self-regard)', 'vyathase': 'you are pained, distressed, troubled', 'nūnam': 'surely, indeed', 'tena': 'therefore

• because of that', 'asi': 'you are', 'hariṇaḥ': 'a deer (genitive/comparative sense: ‘like a deer’)', 'kṛśaḥ': 'thin, emaciated, weak'}

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• ब्राह्मण (Brāhmaṇa speaker)
• हरिण (deer)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights an ethical tension: refusing legitimate means of livelihood out of pride or an exaggerated sense of dignity can itself become a cause of suffering. Dharma involves discernment—maintaining integrity without letting self-regard turn into self-harm.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Brāhmaṇa addresses someone who is visibly emaciated and distressed. He infers that the person suffers from lack of livelihood yet rejects available ways of support (such as accepted social means of maintenance), and he explains that this refusal—rooted in ‘māhātmya’ or self-importance—is the reason for the person’s weakness.