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

యుధిష్ఠిరుడు అన్నాడు— రాజా! లోభానికి పరాయణుడైన మనిషి శ్రూ స్థితిని పొందుతాడు; ఆ యోనిలో పదిహేను సంవత్సరాలు జీవిస్తాడు.

Word by Word

• छुच्छुन्दरित्वम्: state/condition of being a shrew (छछूँदर-योनि)
• छुच्छुन्दरित्वम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: छुच्छुन्दरित्व (छुच्छुन्दर + त्व)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• आप्नोति: attains/obtains
• Type: Verb
• Root: आप् (आप्नोति)
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• लोभपरायणः: one devoted to/controlled by greed
• लोभपरायणः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: लोभपरायण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तत्र: there (in that womb/state)
• तत्र: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र

• जीवति: lives
• Type: Verb
• Root: जीव्
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• वर्षाणि: years
• वर्षाणि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर्ष
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• ततः: then/thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

• दश: ten
• Type: Noun
• Root: दश
• Form: Accusative, Plural (indeclinable numeral used adjectivally)

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• पञ्च: five
• Type: Noun
• Root: पञ्च
• Form: Accusative, Plural (indeclinable numeral used adjectivally)

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• rājan (the king addressed)
• chucchundarī (shrew)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

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.

What is happening in the narrative?

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.