Shloka 16
Adhyāya 3: Indra’s Invitation and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Refusal to Abandon the Dog
Svargārohaṇa Test
भीतिप्रदानं शरणागतस्य स्त्रिया वधो ब्राह्मणस्वापहार: । मित्रद्रोहस्तानि चत्वारि शक्र भक्तत्यागश्चनैव समो मतो मे
bhītipradānaṁ śaraṇāgatasya striyā vadho brāhmaṇasvāpahāraḥ | mitradrohas tāni catvāri śakra bhaktatyāgaś ca naiva samo mato me ||
Yudhiṣṭhira disse: “Aterrorizar quem buscou refúgio, matar uma mulher, roubar os bens de um brāhmaṇa e trair um amigo—estes quatro, ó Śakra, são pecados gravíssimos. Contudo, a meu ver, nenhum deles se iguala ao abandono da devoção (ao Divino).”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse ranks grave ethical violations—terrorizing a refuge-seeker, killing a woman, stealing a brāhmaṇa’s property, and betraying a friend—and then asserts that abandoning devotion is, in Yudhiṣṭhira’s moral vision, an even more serious spiritual downfall, because it severs one’s inner orientation toward the highest good.
In the Mahāprasthānika context, Yudhiṣṭhira is articulating a hierarchy of wrongdoing while addressing Śakra (Indra), emphasizing that beyond social and interpersonal crimes, the loss of steadfast devotion is portrayed as the most ruinous lapse for one who seeks the highest path at life’s end.