Shloka 8

अग्निनाम-वंश-निरूपणम् | Agni-Names and Lineage Enumeration

Devanagari script

स्वधर्म इति कृत्वा तु न त्यजामि द्विजोत्तम । पुरा कृतमिति ज्ञात्वा जीवाम्येतेन कर्मणा,“विप्रवर! मैं अपना स्वधर्म समझकर यह धंधा नहीं छोड़ रहा हूँ। पहलेसे मेरे पूर्वज यही करते आये हैं, ऐसा समझकर मैं इसी कर्मसे जीवन-निर्वाह करता हूँ

Transliteration

svadharma iti kṛtvā tu na tyajāmi dvijottama | purā kṛtam iti jñātvā jīvāmy etena karmaṇā ||

Translation

ഹേ ദ്വിജോത്തമാ! ഇതിനെ എന്റെ സ്വധർമ്മമെന്നു കരുതി ഞാൻ ഈ തൊഴിൽ ഉപേക്ഷിക്കുന്നില്ല. ഇത് പുരാതനകാലം മുതൽ നടന്നുവന്നതാണെന്ന് അറിഞ്ഞ്, ഇതേ കർമംകൊണ്ടാണ് ഞാൻ ജീവിക്കുന്നത്.

Word by Word

स्वधर्मःone's own duty

इतिthus (quotative)

कृत्वाhaving done / having considered

तुbut / indeed

नnot

त्यजामिI abandon / give up

द्विजोत्तमO best of the twice-born (Brahmin)

पुराformerly / earlier

कृतम्done (in the past)

इतिthus (quotative)

ज्ञात्वाhaving known / understanding

जीवामिI live / sustain myself

एतेनby this

कर्मणाby (this) work/occupation

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

dvijottama (addressed Brahmin interlocutor)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames livelihood as an ethical question: the speaker justifies continuing an occupation by appealing to svadharma (one’s proper duty) and inherited tradition, emphasizing continuity of customary work as a basis for sustaining life.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya addresses a Brahmin interlocutor and explains why he does not give up a particular ‘trade/occupation’: he regards it as his own duty and as an ancestral practice, and therefore continues it as his means of living.