Shloka 21
कुमाराभिषेकप्रश्नः — Inquiry into Kumāra (Skanda) Investiture at Sarasvatī
“स्त्रियाँ अपने योनिदोषजनित पाप (व्यभिचार)-से राक्षसी हो जाती हैं। इसी प्रकार क्षत्रिय, वैश्य और शूद्वरोंमेंसे जो लोग ब्राह्मणोंसे द्वेष करते हैं, वे भी इस जगत्में राक्षस होते हैं
striyaḥ sva-yoni-doṣa-janita-pāpena (vyabhicāreṇa) rākṣasī-bhavanti | evaṃ kṣatriya-vaiśya-śūdreṣu ye brāhmaṇa-dveṣiṇaḥ, te 'pi asmin jagati rākṣasā bhavanti ||
Vaiśampāyana berkata: “Kaum wanita, melalui dosa yang timbul daripada cela ‘rahim’—iaitu perzinaan—menjadi bersifat seperti rākṣasī. Demikian juga, dalam kalangan kṣatriya, vaiśya, dan śūdra, sesiapa yang memendam kebencian terhadap brāhmaṇa, di dunia ini juga patut dianggap sebagai rākṣasa.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames certain actions and attitudes as spiritually and socially destructive: sexual transgression (vyabhicāra) and, especially, hatred toward brāhmaṇas (brāhmaṇa-dveṣa). Such conduct is said to make a person ‘rākṣasa-like’—i.e., aligned with cruelty, disorder, and adharma—within the moral universe of the epic.
Vaiśampāyana, the narrator, delivers a moral characterization while recounting events in the Śalya Parva. He pauses the story to state a general ethical judgment: those who commit adultery or who hate brāhmaṇas are to be regarded as rākṣasas in this world, reinforcing the epic’s concern with dharma and social-religious norms.