Shloka 15

अज्ञान–लोभयोः परस्परहेतुत्वम्

Mutual Causality of Ignorance and Greed

Devanagari script

अत्राप्युदाहरन्तीमा गाथा: सत्यवता कृता: । यथा कुमार: सत्यो वै नैव पुण्यो न पापकृत्‌

Transliteration

atrāpy udāharantīmā gāthāḥ satyavatā kṛtāḥ | yathā kumāraḥ satyo vai naiva puṇyo na pāpakṛt ||

Translation

ここでもまた、サティヤヴァーンの作ったこれらの詩句が譬えとして引かれる。争いと憎しみの衝動から離れているがゆえに、幼子は生まれつき真実に従う。ゆえに彼は、意図して功徳を積むこともなく、意図して罪を犯すこともない。同じく、真に高貴な者は皆、真実に安住し、故意の過ちに汚されず、敵対の情念に駆られぬ者であるべきだ。

Word by Word

• {'atra api': 'here also

• in this matter too', 'udāharanti': 'they cite

• they adduce as an example', 'imāḥ': 'these', 'gāthāḥ': 'verses

• didactic stanzas', 'satyavatā': 'by Satyavān (instrumental singular)', 'kṛtāḥ': 'made

• composed', 'yathā': 'just as', 'kumāraḥ': 'a boy

• a youth', 'satyaḥ': 'truthful

• devoted to truth', 'vai': 'indeed

• certainly (emphatic particle)', 'na eva': 'not at all', 'puṇyaḥ': 'meritorious (one who performs merit)', 'na pāpakṛt': 'nor a doer of sin

Speaker

शौनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śaunaka
• Satyavān
• kumāra (a boy/youth)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Truthfulness that is free from hostility and harmful intent is presented as an ideal: like a child who is naturally guileless, the noble person should remain established in truth and avoid deliberate sin, not being driven by aggressive passions.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śaunaka introduces an illustrative citation: he points to didactic stanzas attributed to Satyavān, using the example of a child’s natural truthfulness to explain a moral point about the conduct of the श्रेष्ठ (noble) person.