Shloka 93

Devanagari script

यक्ष उवाच को मोह: प्रोच्यते राजन्‌ कश्च मान: प्रकीर्तित: । किमालस्यं च विज्ञेयं कक्ष शोक: प्रकीर्तितः:,यक्षने पूछा--राजन्‌! मोह किसे कहते हैं? मान क्या कहलाता है? आलस्य किसे जानना चाहिये? और शोक किसे कहते हैं?

Transliteration

yakṣa uvāca: ko mohaḥ procyate rājan kaś ca mānaḥ prakīrtitaḥ | kim ālasyam ca vijñeyaṃ kaś ca śokaḥ prakīrtitaḥ ||

Translation

यक्ष म्हणाला— राजन्! मोहाला काय म्हणतात? मान (अहंकार) कशाला म्हणतात? आळस कशाला समजावे? आणि शोक कशाला म्हणतात?

Word by Word

यक्षःthe Yaksha

उवाचsaid/spoke

कःwhat?/which?

मोहःdelusion

प्रोच्यतेis called/said

राजन्O king

कःwhat?/which?

चand

मानःpride/esteem

प्रकीर्तितःis proclaimed/called

किम्what?

आलस्यम्laziness

चand

विज्ञेयम्to be known/should be understood

कःwhat?/which?

चand

शोकःgrief/sorrow

प्रकीर्तितःis proclaimed/called

Speaker

यक्ष उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yakṣa

King (rājan)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames an ethical inquiry: it asks for clear definitions of inner faults—delusion, pride, laziness, and grief—so that a ruler (and any seeker of dharma) can recognize and overcome them through discernment and right conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Yakṣa–praśna episode of the Vana Parva, the Yakṣa questions the king in a sequence of moral and philosophical riddles. Here, the Yakṣa asks the king to define four mental states that obstruct dharma and wise action.