Shloka 17

Devanagari script

अपूज्यपूजनाच्चैव पूज्यानां चाप्यपूजनात्‌ | नूघातकसमं पापं शश्चवत्‌ प्राप्नोति मानव:,यह बात ध्यानमें आते ही दधीचि यज्ञशालासे अलग हो गये और दूर जाकर कहने लगे --'सज्जनो! अपूजनीय पुरुषकी पूजा करनेसे और पूजनीय महापुरुषकी पूजा न करनेसे मनुष्य सदा ही नरहत्याके समान पापका भागी होता है

Transliteration

apūjya-pūjanāc caiva pūjyānāṃ cāpy apūjanāt | nṛghātaka-samaṃ pāpaṃ śaśvat prāpnoti mānavaḥ ||

Translation

ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「敬うに値しない者を敬い、真に敬うべき者を敬わぬなら、人は絶えず人殺しに等しい罪を負う。」

Word by Word

अपूज्यपूजनात्from worshipping the unworthy (of worship)

चand

एवindeed/just

पूज्यानाम्of those worthy of worship

चand

अपिalso/even

अपूजनात्from non-worship (failure to worship)

नृघातकसमम्equal to man-slaying

पापम्sin

शश्वत्always/constantly

प्राप्नोतिattains/incurs

मानवःa man/human

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Honor must be directed toward the truly worthy, and neglect of the worthy is a serious moral failure. The verse equates both misdirected reverence (honoring the unworthy) and omission of due reverence (not honoring the worthy) with extremely grave sin, emphasizing discernment (viveka) in social and spiritual conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, states a general ethical principle within the Shānti Parva’s dharma-discourse: social and religious acts of honoring are not neutral; they carry moral weight depending on the recipient’s worthiness. The verse functions as a warning about the consequences of distorted values and improper prioritization of reverence.