Shloka 109
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
Devanagari script
छुच्छुन्दरित्वमाप्रोति राजल्लाॉभपरायण: । तत्र जीवति वर्षाणि ततो दश च पठच च
Transliteration
chucchundaritvam āpnoti rājan lobhaparāyaṇaḥ | tatra jīvati varṣāṇi tato daśa ca pañca ca ||
Translation
युधिष्ठिर उवाच— राजन्! लोभपरायणः पुरुषः छुछुन्दरित्वमाप्नोति; तत्र पञ्चदश वर्षाणि जीवति।
Word by Word
छुच्छुन्दरित्वम्state/condition of being a shrew (छछूँदर-योनि)
छुच्छुन्दरित्वम्:
Karma
TypeNoun
Rootछुच्छुन्दरित्व (छुच्छुन्दर + त्व)
FormNeuter, Accusative, Singular
आप्नोतिattains/obtains
आप्नोति:
TypeVerb
Rootआप् (आप्नोति)
FormPresent, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada
राजन्O king
राजन्:
TypeNoun
Rootराजन्
FormMasculine, Vocative, Singular
लोभपरायणःone devoted to/controlled by greed
लोभपरायणः:
Karta
TypeAdjective
Rootलोभपरायण
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
तत्रthere (in that womb/state)
तत्र:
Adhikarana
TypeIndeclinable
Rootतत्र
जीवतिlives
जीवति:
TypeVerb
Rootजीव्
FormPresent, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada
वर्षाणिyears
वर्षाणि:
Karma
TypeNoun
Rootवर्ष
FormNeuter, Accusative, Plural
ततःthen/thereafter
ततः:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootततः
दशten
दश:
TypeNoun
Rootदश
FormAccusative, Plural (indeclinable numeral used adjectivally)
चand
च:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootच
पञ्चfive
पञ्च:
TypeNoun
Rootपञ्च
FormAccusative, Plural (indeclinable numeral used adjectivally)
राजन्O king
राजन्:
TypeNoun
Rootराजन्
FormMasculine, Vocative, Singular
Speaker
युधिछिर उवाच
Characters & Entities
Y
YudhiṣṭhiraR
rājan (the king addressed)C
chucchundarī (shrew)Character Dynamics
Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)
Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)
Philosophical Teaching
Political Layer
Geographic Context
Sandhi Notes
Educational Q&A
Greed (lobha) that drives unethical acts like theft leads to moral degradation and karmic retribution, symbolized here by rebirth as a low creature and a fixed span of suffering in that state.
In a didactic exchange within Anuśāsana Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira states a specific karmic result: a greed-driven wrongdoer is reborn as a chucchundarī (shrew) and lives fifteen years in that womb/species.