Mahabharata 7.103.4 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 103, Shloka 4
भीमसेन-द्रोण-संग्रामः
Bhīmasena and Droṇa: Containment, Advance, and Recognition
असन्तस्तु न्यवर्तन्त वेदेभ्य इव नास्तिका: । नरकं भजमानास्ते प्रत्यपद्यन्त किल्बिषम्
asantas tu nyavartanta vedebhya iva nāstikāḥ | narakaṁ bhajamānās te pratyapadyanta kilbiṣam ||
ಆದರೆ ಅಧಮರು ಮಾತ್ರ ನಾಸ್ತಿಕರು ವೇದಗಳಿಂದ ದೂರವಿರುವಂತೆ ಹಿಂದಿರುಗಿದರು। ನರಕಮಾರ್ಗವನ್ನು ಆರಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಅವರು ಪಾಪವನ್ನೇ ಸಂಪಾದಿಸಿ ಅವಮಾನದಿಂದ ಹಿಂದೆ ಸರಿದರು।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts adherence to dharma with rejection of moral and scriptural guidance: those who are ignoble turn away from righteous conduct, and such retreat from duty results in moral demerit (kilbiṣa) and a downward consequence symbolized as naraka.
Sañjaya reports that certain low-minded warriors, confronted in battle, lose resolve and retreat. Their turning back is likened to nāstikas who keep away from the Vedas, implying a willful abandonment of the proper path and the accrual of sin.
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