Shloka 12

Devanagari script

स दृष्टवा मांसजीवी तु सुभृशं क्षुच्छुमान्वित: । अभक्षयत्‌ ततो ग्रीवामुष्टस्य भरतर्षभ,भरतश्रेष्ठ। वह मांसजीवी गीदड़ अत्यन्त भूखके कारण कष्ट पा रहा था, अतः उसने ऊँटकी गर्दनका मांस काट-काटकर खाना आरम्भ कर दिया

Transliteration

sa dṛṣṭvā māṁsajīvī tu subhṛśaṁ kṣucchumānvitāḥ | abhakṣayat tato grīvām uṣṭasya bharatarṣabha ||

Translation

భరతశ్రేష్ఠా! ఆ ఒంటెను చూసిన మాంసాహారి నక్క తీవ్రమైన ఆకలితో బాధపడుతూ, ఒంటె మెడను కొరికికొరికీ తినడం ప్రారంభించింది.

Word by Word

सःhe (that one)

दृष्ट्वाhaving seen

मांसजीवीmeat-eater (carnivore)

तुbut/indeed

सुभृशम्exceedingly, very much

क्षुत्with hunger

शुचम्distress, suffering

अन्वितःendowed with, accompanied by

अभक्षयत्ate, began to eat

ततःthen, thereafter

ग्रीवाम्neck

उष्ट्रस्यof the camel

भरतर्षभO bull among the Bharatas

भरतश्रेष्ठO best of the Bharatas

Speaker

उड्ड उवाच

Characters & Entities

uṣṭa (camel)

māṁsajīvī (jackal, implied)

bharatarṣabha (addressee)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse illustrates how overpowering hunger and ingrained predatory disposition can eclipse restraint, leading to harmful action; ethically, it cautions that unchecked impulses (kṣudh/kāma) can push one away from dharma and compassion.

What is happening in the narrative?

A flesh-eating jackal, suffering acute hunger, sees a camel and begins to feed by biting and devouring the camel’s neck, depicting opportunistic violence driven by need and habit.