Shloka 33
Ajagara-vrata (The ‘Python’ Discipline): Prahrāda Questions a Wandering Sage
भोजन करके विश्राम कर लेनेपर गौतम इस प्रकार चिन्ता करने लगा--“अहो! मैंने लोभ और मोहसे प्रेरित होकर सुन्दर सुवर्णका यह महान् भार ले लिया है। अभी मुझे बहुत दूर जाना है। रास्तेमें खानेके लिये कुछ भी नहीं है, जिससे मेरे प्राणोंकी रक्षा हो सके ।।
bhojanaṃ kṛtvā viśrāmaṃ ca samāśritya gautama evaṃ cintayām āsa— “aho! lobha-moha-preritaḥ śubhra-svarṇasya mahā-bhāraṃ mayā gṛhītaḥ. adhunā me dūraṃ gantavyam. pathi bhojanārthaṃ kiṃcid api nāsti yena prāṇā rakṣyeyuḥ. kiṃ kṛtvā dhārayeyaṃ vai prāṇān?” ity abhyacintayat. tataḥ sa pathi bhoktavyaṃ prekṣamāṇo na kiṃcana. atha sa kṛtaghnaḥ manasā evam avadhārayat— “ayaṃ baka-rājā rājadharmā mama samīpe eva. eṣa māṃsasya mahān rāśiḥ. enam eva hatvā gṛhītvā śīghram ito gamiṣyāmi.”
食して休んだのち、ガウタマは思い悩み始めた。「ああ、貪りと迷妄に駆られて、見事ではあるが重いこの黄金の荷を背負ってしまった。まだ道のりは遠いのに、途中には命を守るための食べ物が何もない。いかなる手立てでこの命の息を保てようか。」そうして不安に沈んだ。やがて道に食べられるものが一つもないと見るや、その恩知らずは胸中でこう考えた。「蒼鷺の王ラージャダルマー（Rājadharmā）が、すぐそばにいるではないか。あれは大きな肉の塊だ。殺して手に入れ、ここを早々に立ち去ろう。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how greed (lobha) and delusion (moha) distort judgment: a person who has already benefited from another’s presence can still become ‘kṛtaghna’ (ungrateful) and rationalize harm for self-preservation. It frames ethical failure as beginning in inner calculation—when survival and gain are pursued without gratitude and dharma.
Gautama, burdened by a heavy load of gold and lacking provisions for the road, worries about sustaining his life. Seeing no food, he turns his attention to Rājadharmā, the king of herons who is nearby, and decides to kill him for meat so he can continue his journey quickly.