Shloka 143

Devanagari script

निगृहा केशेषु वर्ध॑ गुरोर्धर्मात्मन: सतः । 'पुरुषाधम! तेरे सिवा दूसरा कौन श्रेष्ठ पुरुष धर्मात्मा सज्जन गुरुके केश पकड़कर उनके वधका विचार भी मनमें लायेगा

Transliteration

nigṛhya keśeṣu vṛddhaṁ guror dharmātmanaḥ sataḥ | “puruṣādhama! tere sivā dūsarā kauna śreṣṭha-puruṣa dharmātmā sajjana guru-ke keśa pakaṛakara unake vadha-kā vicāra bhī man-meṁ lāyegā” ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。「人の最下よ！老いてなお法に篤く徳高いグルの髪をつかむとは。お前以外に、誰がそのような高貴でダルマに生きる師を殺そうなどと、心にさえ思い描くであろうか。」

Word by Word

• निगृह्य: having seized/held fast
• निगृह्य: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि-ग्रह्
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), परस्मैपद-भावार्थ

• केशेषु: in/at the hair (by the hair)
• केशेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: केश
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Plural

• वर्ध: grow!/prosper!/increase!
• वर्ध: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: वर्ध
• Form: Imperative, 2, Singular, Parasmaipada

• गुरोः: of the teacher
• गुरोः: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुरु
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• धर्मात्मनः: of the righteous-souled
• धर्मात्मनः: Sampradana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: धर्मात्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• सतः: of the good/virtuous one
• सतः: Sampradana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सत्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• guru (the preceptor/teacher)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even amid war, certain acts remain profoundly adharmic—humiliating and harming a righteous teacher. The verse condemns not only the act of violence but the very intention to kill a virtuous guru, stressing moral limits and reverence owed to elders and preceptors.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes and morally denounces a scene in which an aged, dharma-abiding teacher is seized by the hair, and the aggressor is rebuked as ‘puruṣādhama’ for even contemplating the teacher’s death.