Shloka 59

Dasyu-maryādā and Buddhi-guided Rāja-nīti (दस्युमर्यादा तथा बुद्धिप्रधान-राजनीति)

Devanagari script

अहं हि पुत्रशोकेन कृतपापा तवात्मजे | यथा त्वया प्रहर्तव्यं तथा तत्त्वं च मे शृणु,जैसे मैं पुत्र शोकसे संतप्त होकर आपके पुत्रके प्रति पापपूर्ण बर्ताव कर बैठी, उसी प्रकार आप भी मुझपर प्रहार कर सकते हैं। यहाँ जो यथार्थ बात है, वह मुझसे सुनिये

Transliteration

ahaṃ hi putraśokena kṛtapāpā tavātmaje | yathā tvayā prahartavyaṃ tathā tattvaṃ ca me śṛṇu ||

Translation

പുത്രശോകത്തിൽ വിങ്ങി ഞാൻ നിന്റെ പുത്രനോടു പാപകരമായ അന്യായം ചെയ്തു. അതിനാൽ നീ എന്നെ പ്രഹരിക്കാമെന്നത് ന്യായം; അതുപോലെ—യഥാർത്ഥ സത്യം എന്തെന്നതും എന്നിൽ നിന്നു കേൾക്കുക.

Word by Word

• {'ahaṃ': 'I', 'hi': 'indeed, for', 'putra-śokena': 'by grief for (one’s) son', 'kṛta-pāpā': 'one who has done sin

• having committed a wrongful act', 'tava': 'your', 'ātmaje': 'to/against the son (lit. ‘born of oneself’)

• child', 'yathā': 'as, in the manner that', 'tvayā': 'by you', 'prahartavyam': 'to be struck

• to be punished/retaliated against (as deemed fit)', 'tathā': 'so, in that same way', 'tattvam': 'the truth

• the real state of affairs', 'ca': 'and', 'me': 'from me / my', 'śṛṇu': 'hear

Speaker

ब्रह्मदत्त उवाच

Characters & Entities

• ब्रह्मदत्त (Brahmadatta)
• पुत्र (son)
• तव आत्मज (your son/child)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Grief can drive one into wrongdoing, but dharmic repair begins with owning the fault, accepting proportionate consequence, and then stating the truth without concealment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Brahmadatta admits that, due to sorrow over his own son, he acted sinfully toward the other person’s child; he acknowledges the other’s right to retaliate and asks them to hear the true account of the matter.