Shloka 18

Viṣṇor Māhātmya and Indriya-saṃyama (विष्णोर्माहात्म्यं तथा इन्द्रियसंयमः)

Devanagari script

तस्य तेनानुभावेन मृगहिंसात्मनस्तदा । तपो महत्समुच्छिन्नं तस्माद्धिंसा न यज्ञिया,मैं उस पशुका वध करके स्वर्गलोक प्राप्त करूँगा; यह सोचकर मृगकी हिंसा करनेके लिये उद्यत उस ब्राह्मणका महान्‌ तप तत्काल नष्ट हो गया। इसलिये हिंसा यज्ञके लिये हितकर नहीं है

Transliteration

tasya tenānubhāvena mṛga-hiṃsātmanas tadā | tapo mahatsamucchinnaṃ tasmād dhiṃsā na yajñiyā ||

Translation

ナーラダは言った。「その意図の力によって、かのバラモンが『この獣を殺せば天界に至る』と思い、鹿を害そうと心を定めたとき、彼の大いなる苦行はただちに断ち切られた。ゆえに、暴力は真に祭祀を成就させるものではない（また正しい手段としても認められない）。」

Word by Word

तस्यof him/its

तेनby that/through that

अनुभावेनby the influence/effect

मृगof a deer; deer

हिंसाviolence/killing

आत्मनःof (one) whose nature is; of the self

तदाthen/at that time

तपःausterity/penance

महत्great

समुच्छिन्नम्cut off/destroyed

तस्मात्therefore/from that

हिंसाviolence

नnot

यज्ञियाfit for sacrifice; sacrificial

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārada

a brāhmaṇa (unnamed)

mṛga (deer/animal)

svarga (heaven) (implied by the accompanying sense)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even when justified by a pious-sounding goal (like attaining heaven), the intention to harm living beings undermines spiritual merit; violence is not truly ‘yajñiya’—not a righteous or beneficial means for sacrifice and dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada describes a brahmin who becomes eager to kill a deer, reasoning that the act will lead to heaven; at that very moment, the brahmin’s accumulated tapas is said to be destroyed, and Nārada concludes that violence is not proper for yajña.