Shloka 46

Devanagari script

न हि वैराग्निरुद्धूत: कर्म चाप्यपराधजम्‌ | शाम्यत्यदग्ध्वा नृपते विना होकतरक्षयात्‌

Transliteration

na hi vairāgnir uddhūtaḥ karma cāpy aparādhajam | śāmyaty adagdhvā nṛpate vinā hokatarakṣayāt ||

Translation

ഹേ നൃപതേ! വൈരാഗ്നി ഒരിക്കൽ കത്തിപ്പടർന്നാൽ, അപരാധത്തിൽ നിന്നുയർന്ന കർമ്മഫലവും, സ്വന്തം ഇന്ധനം കത്തിച്ചുതീർക്കാതെ ശമിക്കുകയില്ല; കാരണമെല്ലാം ക്ഷയിക്കാതെ അതിന് ശാന്തി വരില്ല।

Word by Word

नnot

हिindeed/for

वैindeed/verily

वैराग्निःthe fire of enmity

उद्धूतःkindled/raised up

कर्मdeed/action

चand

अपिalso/even

अपराधजम्born of offense/wrongdoing

शाम्यतिis pacified/comes to rest

अदग्ध्वाwithout burning (having not burned)

नृपतेO king

विनाwithout/except

लोकतरक्षयात्from the destruction of the other world (i.e., ruin in the next world)

Speaker

ब्रह्मदत्त उवाच

Characters & Entities

ब

ब्रह्मदत्त (Brahmadatta)

न

नृप (king; addressee)

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?

Enmity and the karmic results of wrongdoing have momentum: once ignited, they do not simply fade by wish or denial. They cease only when their sustaining causes—fuel, provocations, and unresolved offenses—are exhausted or consciously removed.

What is happening in the narrative?

Brahmadatta addresses a king, using the metaphor of a fire to counsel about hostility and culpable action: conflict and fault-generated consequences persist until they ‘burn out’—implying the need for restraint, atonement, or removal of the causes that keep them alive.