Shloka 13

Plakṣaprasravaṇa–Kārapacana tīrtha-varṇana and Nārada’s war briefing (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 53)

Devanagari script

मानवा ये निराहारा देहं त्यक्ष्यन्त्यतन्द्रिता: । युधि वा निहता: सम्यगपि तिर्यग्गता नूप

Transliteration

mānavā ye nirāhārā dehaṃ tyakṣyanty atandritāḥ | yudhi vā nihatāḥ samyag api tiryaggatā nūpa ||

Translation

“ਹੇ ਰਾਜਨ, ਜੋ ਮਨੁੱਖ ਸਚੇਤ ਰਹਿ ਕੇ ਨਿਰਾਹਾਰ ਵ੍ਰਤ ਨਾਲ ਦੇਹ ਤਿਆਗਦੇ ਹਨ, ਜਾਂ ਜੋ ਯੁੱਧ ਵਿੱਚ ਧਰਮ-ਰੀਤ ਅਨੁਸਾਰ ਮਾਰੇ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਹਨ—ਉਹ ਤਿਰਯਕ ਯੋਨੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਵੀ ਚਲੇ ਜਾਣ ਤਾਂ ਭੀ ਨਿੰਦਣਯੋਗ ਨਹੀਂ।”

Word by Word

मानवाःmen, humans

येwho

निराहाराःwithout food, fasting

देहम्body

त्यक्ष्यन्तिwill abandon, will give up

अतन्द्रिताःunwearied, vigilant

युधिin battle

वाor

निहताःslain, killed

सम्यक्properly, rightly

अपिeven, also

तिर्यक्-गताःgone to an animal state (born as animals)

नnot

उपnear; (as preverb) up-/towards

Speaker

राम उवाच

Characters & Entities

र

राम (Rāma)

न

नृप (king; addressee)

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 links the manner of living and dying to moral consequence: vigilant austerity (fasting with discipline) and a proper death in battle are presented as ethically significant, influencing one’s post-mortem trajectory even if the next birth appears inferior.

What is happening in the narrative?

Rāma addresses a king, reflecting on categories of death—death through disciplined fasting and death in combat—and comments on their karmic and ethical implications, including the possibility of rebirth among animals.