Shloka 4

वसिष्ठ-प्रशंसा

Vasiṣṭha as Purohita: Ascetic Mastery and Royal Counsel

Devanagari script

न हिंस्या मानुषा भूयो युष्माभिरिति करहिचित्‌ | हिंसतां हि वध: शीघ्रमेवमेव भवेदिति

Transliteration

na hiṃsyā mānuṣā bhūyo yuṣmābhir iti karhicit | hiṃsatāṃ hi vadhaḥ śīghram evam eva bhaved iti

Translation

Vaiśampāyana disse: “Nunca mais os seres humanos devem ser feridos por vós—em tempo algum. Pois para os que praticam a violência, a destruição rápida certamente se segue; assim é.”

Word by Word

नnot

हिंस्याyou should harm

मानुषाःmen, humans

भूयःagain, further

युष्माभिःby you (all)

इतिthus (quotative)

करहिचित्at any time, ever

हिंसताम्of those who harm

हिindeed, for

वधःkilling, death

शीघ्रम्quickly, soon

एवम्thus, in this way

एवindeed, just

भवेत्would be, may occur

इतिthus (end of quotation)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

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 teaches restraint from harming humans (ahiṃsā) and asserts a moral causality: those who engage in violence invite swift destruction, implying an ethical law of retribution aligned with dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana delivers a direct admonition—addressing a group in the story—warning them not to commit further violence against people and emphasizing the immediate peril that befalls perpetrators of harm.