Shloka 49
यक्ष उवाच कि ब्राह्मणानां देवत्वं कश्न धर्म: सतामिव । कश्चैषां मानुषो भाव: किमेषामसतामिव
yakṣa uvāca: kiṁ brāhmaṇānāṁ devatvaṁ? kaś ca dharmaḥ satām iva? kaś caiṣāṁ mānuṣo bhāvaḥ? kim eṣām asatām iva?
ヤクシャは問うた。「バラモンにおける神性とは何か。徳ある者の行いに似た彼らのダルマとは何か。彼らのうち、ただ人としての性（さが）とは何か。さらに、不徳の者のふるまいに似たものとは何か。」
यक्ष उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical inquiry: true status is measured not by birth alone but by qualities—divine virtues, righteous conduct, ordinary human limitations, and the risk of falling into ignoble behavior. It invites discernment of character through actions aligned with dharma.
In the Yakṣa–Yudhiṣṭhira dialogue of the Vana Parva, the Yakṣa tests understanding of dharma through probing questions. Here he asks Yudhiṣṭhira to define what makes brāhmaṇas ‘divine,’ what marks their virtuous duty, what is merely human in them, and what resembles the conduct of the wicked.