Mahabharata — Ashvamedhika Parva, Shloka 6

Cāturhotra as Inner Sacrifice (Yoga-Yajña) and Nārāyaṇa Recitation

Devanagari script

घ्राता भक्षयिता द्रष्टा वक्ता श्रोता च पठचम: । मन्ता बोद्धा च सप्तैते विज्ञेया: कर्तहेतवः

Transliteration

ghrātā bhakṣayitā draṣṭā vaktā śrotā ca pañcamaḥ | mantā boddhā ca saptaite vijñeyāḥ kartṛ-hetavaḥ ||

Translation

Wika ng Brahmin: “Ang umaamoy, ang kumakain, ang nakakakita, ang nagsasalita, at ikalima, ang nakaririnig; gayundin ang nagmumuni at ang dumarating sa tiyak na pag-unawa—ang pitong ito ay dapat makilala bilang mga gumaganap na sanhi na nagpapangyari sa gawa.”

Word by Word

• घ्राता: smeller (one who smells)
• घ्राता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: घ्रा (धातु) → घ्रातृ (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• भक्षयिता: eater (one who eats)
• भक्षयिता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भक्ष् (धातु) → भक्षयितृ (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• द्रष्टा: seer (one who sees)
• द्रष्टा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: दृश् (धातु) → द्रष्टृ (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वक्ता: speaker (one who speaks)
• वक्ता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वच् (धातु) → वक्तृ (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• श्रोता: hearer (one who hears)
• श्रोता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रु (धातु) → श्रोतृ (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

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

• पञ्चमः: the fifth
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पञ्चम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मन्ता: thinker/reflector (one who considers)
• मन्ता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मन् (धातु) → मन्तृ (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• बोद्धा: knower/understander (one who apprehends)
• बोद्धा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: बुध् (धातु) → बोद्धृ (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

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

• सप्त: seven
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सप्त (संख्याशब्द-प्रातिपदिक)

• एते: these
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• विज्ञेयाः: to be known/should be understood
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वि + ज्ञा (धातु) → विज्ञेय (कृदन्त; भाव्य/gerundive)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• कर्तृ-हेतवः: causes/grounds of agency (agent-causes)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्तृ (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक) + हेतु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• ब्राह्मण (Brahmin speaker)
• घ्राता
• भक्षयिता
• द्रष्टा
• वक्ता
• श्रोता
• मन्ता
• बोद्धा

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Action and moral responsibility are mediated through identifiable faculties—sense functions (smelling, eating, seeing, speaking, hearing) and inner cognition (reflection and decisive understanding). Recognizing these ‘causes of agency’ helps one discipline the senses and mind, aligning conduct with dharma rather than being driven blindly by impulses.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Brahmin speaker is instructing by enumerating the functional agents within a person that participate in action. The verse serves as a reflective, ethical-psychological teaching within the Ashvamedhika Parva’s discourse setting, redirecting attention from outer deeds to the inner mechanisms that produce them.