Shloka 67

श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः

Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma

Devanagari script

हारिद्रवर्णे रक्ते वा वर्तमानस्तु पार्थिव । तिर्यगेवानुपश्येत कर्मभिस्तामसैर्वृत:,पृथ्वीनाथ! पीतवर्णवाले देवसर्गमें तथा रक्तवर्णवाले अनुग्रहसर्गमें विद्यमान प्राणी कभी तामस कर्मोंसे आवृत होकर तिर्यग्योनिका भी दर्शन कर सकता है

Transliteration

hāridra-varṇe rakte vā vartamānas tu pārthiva | tiryag evānupaśyet karmabhis tāmasair vṛtaḥ ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira berkata: “Wahai raja, suatu makhluk yang kini berada dalam ciptaan berwarna kuning (ketuhanan) atau bahkan dalam ciptaan berwarna merah (yang dikurniai) boleh—apabila diselubungi perbuatan tamas—melihat, bahkan memasuki, keadaan kelahiran sebagai binatang. Maka, keadaan yang tinggi pun tidak terjamin apabila tingkah laku merosot ke dalam kegelapan.”

Word by Word

हारिद्रवर्णेin the turmeric-yellow color/state

रक्तेin the red (state/color)

वाor

वर्तमानःexisting, being present

तुbut/indeed

पार्थिवO king (earth-lord)

तिर्यक्as an animal; in an animal state

एवindeed/only

अनुपश्येत्may perceive/come to see (i.e., attain/experience)

कर्मभिःby actions/deeds

तामसैःby tamasic (dark) [deeds]

वृतःcovered/enshrouded

पृथ्वीनाथO lord of the earth

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

pārthiva (the king addressed)

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?

Even if one is born or placed in a higher, more luminous condition, tamasic deeds can obscure discernment and pull the being into lower states such as animal birth; ethical conduct safeguards one’s trajectory.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s moral-philosophical dialogue, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a king and reflects on how the quality of one’s actions (especially tamasic karma) can cause a fall from higher creations/conditions into lower embodiments.