Shloka 12

Adhyāya 283: Varṇa-vṛtti, Nyāya-ārjana, and the Decline-and-Restoration of Dharma (वर्णवृत्तिः न्यायार्जनं च)

Devanagari script

नायं यज्ञो न वा धर्मो यत्र रुद्रो न इज्यते । वधबन्धं प्रपन्ना वै कि नु कालस्य पर्यय:

Transliteration

nāyaṁ yajño na vā dharmo yatra rudro na ijyate | vadhabandhaṁ prapannā vai ki nu kālasya paryayaḥ ||

Translation

ໄວສັມປາຍະນະ ກ່າວວ່າ: «ບ່ອນໃດທີ່ບໍ່ໄດ້ບູຊາ ຣຸດຣະ (Rudra) ບ່ອນນັ້ນບໍ່ຄວນເອີ້ນວ່າ ຍັດຍະ (ພິທີບູຊາ) ແລະບໍ່ຄວນເອີ້ນວ່າ ທັມມະ (dharma) ເຊັ່ນກັນ. ຕົກຢູ່ໃນສະພາບແຫ່ງການຂ້າຟັນ ແລະການຖືກຈັບມັດ—ນີ້ແມ່ນການຜັນຜວນຂອງ ກາລະ (ຊະຕາກຳ) ແນວໃດ?»

Word by Word

नnot

अयम्this

यज्ञःsacrifice

नnor/not

वाor

धर्मःdharma/righteousness

यत्रwhere

रुद्रःRudra (Shiva)

नnot

इज्यतेis worshipped/sacrificed to

वधबन्धम्slaying and bondage

प्रपन्नाःhaving fallen into/subject to

वैindeed

किम्what

नुindeed/then (interrogative particle)

कालस्यof time

पर्ययःreversal/turn/change

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Rudra (Śiva)

Kāla (Time/Fate)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse asserts that ritual and dharma are incomplete without honoring Rudra, and it frames human suffering (slaughter, bondage) as a troubling ‘reversal of Time,’ prompting reflection on how neglect of rightful worship and moral order can coincide with catastrophic turns of fate.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, comments on a situation marked by violence and captivity, interpreting it through a dharmic lens: true yajña/dharma requires proper divine reverence (here, Rudra), and the present calamity is described as an astonishing turn in the course of Kāla (fate/time).