Shloka 65
Devanagari script
ओषधीनां क्षये जाते प्राणिनामपि संक्षय:
Transliteration
oṣadhīnāṃ kṣaye jāte prāṇinām api saṃkṣayaḥ
Translation
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「薬草が尽きるとき、生きとし生けるものもまた衰える——それを支える療薬が失われれば、生命そのものが減じてゆくのだ。」
Word by Word
ओषधीनाम्of medicinal herbs/plants
ओषधीनाम्:
Adhikarana
TypeNoun
Rootओषधि
FormFeminine, Genitive, Plural
क्षयेin (the state of) destruction/decline
क्षये:
Adhikarana
TypeNoun
Rootक्षय
FormMasculine, Locative, Singular
जातेhaving occurred/arisen
जाते:
Adhikarana
TypeVerb
Rootजात
Formक्त (past passive participle), जन्, Masculine, Locative, Singular
प्राणिनाम्of living beings
प्राणिनाम्:
Adhikarana
TypeNoun
Rootप्राणिन्
FormMasculine, Genitive, Plural
अपिalso/even
अपि:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootअपि
संक्षयःdestruction/ruin (ensues)
संक्षयः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootसंक्षय
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
Speaker
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Characters & Entities
O
oṣadhi (medicinal herbs)P
prāṇin (living beings)Character Dynamics
Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)
War Context
Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)
Philosophical Teaching
Political Layer
Meter (Chandas)
Sandhi Notes
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches interdependence: when the natural and medicinal supports of life are destroyed, the harm does not remain local—living beings themselves decline. Ethically, it warns that violence and neglect that ruin sustaining resources amplify suffering and mortality.
Vaiśampāyana states a causal observation: the depletion of healing herbs leads to the decline of creatures. In the broader war context of the Shalya Parva, it functions as a reflection on how devastation spreads—damage to resources and remedies worsens the fate of the wounded and the vulnerable.