Shloka 15

Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 85: Āṣṭaka–Yayāti संवादः

Merit-Exhaustion, Rebirth, and the Critique of Pride

Devanagari script

गुरुदारप्रसक्तेषु तिर्यग्योनिगतेषु च | पशुधर्मेषु पापेषु म्लेच्छेषु त्वं भविष्यसि,जो गुरु-पत्नियोंमें आसक्त हैं, जो पशु-पक्षी आदिका-सा आचरण करनेवाले हैं तथा जिनके सारे आचार-विचार भी पशुओंके समान हैं, तू उन पापात्मा म्लेच्छोंका राजा होगा

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | gurudāraprasakteṣu tiryagyoni-gateṣu ca | paśudharmeṣu pāpeṣu mleccheṣu tvaṁ bhaviṣyasi ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana disse: “Entre aqueles que cobiçam a esposa do seu mestre, que caíram em modos de existência baixos, semelhantes aos dos animais, e que vivem segundo códigos pecaminosos e bestiais — entre tais ‘mlecchas’ — tu te tornarás seu governante.”

Word by Word

गुरुदारप्रसक्तेषुamong those attached to the guru's wife

तिर्यग्योनिगतेषुamong those who have gone to animal births

चand

पशुधर्मेषुin/among animal-like practices

पापेषुsinful (ones)

म्लेच्छेषुamong the mlecchas (barbarians/foreigners)

त्वम्you

भविष्यसिyou will become

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse condemns grave ethical transgressions—especially illicit desire toward the teacher’s wife—and frames such conduct as ‘beastly’ and sinful, leading to social and spiritual degradation. It also warns that leadership over the unrighteous is itself a degraded form of kingship.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, as the narrator, reports a pronouncement/forecast that the addressed person will become a ruler among people characterized by immoral, animal-like conduct—those labeled ‘mlecchas’ in the epic’s cultural-ethical idiom.