Shloka 5

अहिंसा-प्रधान धर्मविचारः

Ahiṃsā as the Superior Dharma: Practical and Scriptural Reasoning

Devanagari script

प्रियान्‌ पुत्रान्‌ वयस्यांश्व भ्रातृन्‌ नर पितृनपि । अपध्यास्यन्ति यद्येवं मृतास्तेषां बिभेम्पहम्‌

Transliteration

priyān putrān vayasyāṁś ca bhrātṝn nara pitṝn api | apadhyāsyanti yad evaṁ mṛtās teṣāṁ bibhemy aham ||

Translation

Nārada berkata: “Wahai manusia, jika aku membunuh anak-anak yang dikasihi, sahabat, saudara, bahkan para bapa, maka kaum kerabat mereka—melihat mereka dibunuh sedemikian rupa—akan menyimpan sangka buruk dan niat permusuhan terhadapku. Maka aku sangat takut akan mereka.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'प्रियान् (priyān)', 'definition': 'beloved (persons)'}, {'term': 'पुत्रान् (putrān)', 'definition': 'sons'}, {'term': 'वयस्यान् (vayasyān)', 'definition': 'companions of the same age

• friends'}, {'term': 'भ्रातॄन् (bhrātṝn)', 'definition': 'brothers'}, {'term': 'नर (nara)', 'definition': 'O man (vocative address)'}, {'term': 'पितॄन् (pitṝn)', 'definition': 'fathers

• forefathers/elders'}, {'term': 'अपध्यास्यन्ति (apadhyāsyanti)', 'definition': 'they will think ill of

• they will harbor hostile suspicion/ill-will'}, {'term': 'मृताः (mṛtāḥ)', 'definition': 'dead

• slain'}, {'term': 'तेषाम् (teṣām)', 'definition': 'of them

• their'}, {'term': 'बिभेमि (bibhemi)', 'definition': 'I fear'}, {'term': 'अहम् (aham)', 'definition': 'I'}]

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Nārada

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical and social consequences of violence: killing beloved family and companions invites hostile remembrance and resentment from survivors, creating fear and moral hesitation. It frames harm not only as physical destruction but as a cause of enduring ill-will and karmic-social backlash.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada voices a concern about the aftermath of slaying close relations—sons, friends, brothers, and fathers—stating that the relatives of the slain will harbor malicious thoughts toward the killer; this anticipated enmity becomes a reason for fear.