Shloka 17
Adhyaya 23 — Ashvatara’s Vow for Madalasa and the Bestowal of Musical Science by Sarasvati
मया नृशंस्यं कर्तव्यं नोपकार्यपकारि च ।
या मदर्थे 'त्यजत प्राणांस्तदर्थे 'ल्पमिदं मम ॥
mayā nṛśaṃsyaṃ kartavyaṃ nopakāryapakāri ca / yā madarthe 'tyajat prāṇāṃs tadarthe 'lpam idaṃ mama
എനിക്ക് കഠിനമായ കര്മ്മവും ചെയ്യേണ്ടിവരും—ഇത് ‘സഹായകനെ സഹായിക്കല്’ അല്ല, ‘അഹിംസകനെ ഹാനിപ്പിക്കല്’ കൂടിയല്ല; എന്റെ നിമിത്തം ജീവന് ത്യജിച്ച അവളോടു താരതമ്യപ്പെടുത്തുമ്പോള് എന്റെ ഈ ത്യാഗം അത്യല്പം।
{ "primaryRasa": "karuna", "secondaryRasa": "dharma", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
FAQs
The verse frames self-sacrifice as repayment of an existential debt: when another has died for you, your own life appears a small offering. Yet it also admits the act may be ‘nṛśaṃsa’—suggesting awareness that dramatic reciprocity can violate other dharmas.
Didactic narrative (vaṃśānucarita-type). The purāṇic method is to explore dharma through emotionally charged dilemmas rather than abstract rule.
The ‘debt’ is not only social but karmic: the psyche seeks equilibrium. The verse exposes the bind where egoic honor masquerades as virtue, requiring discernment (viveka) to separate dharma from compulsion.