Shloka 21

अज्ञान–लोभयोः परस्परहेतुत्वम्

Mutual Causality of Ignorance and Greed

Devanagari script

हिमाग्निघोरसद्शो राजा भवति कश्चन | लांगलाशनिकल्पो वा भवेदन्य: परंतप

Transliteration

himāgni-ghora-sadṛśo rājā bhavati kaścana | lāṅgalāśani-kalpo vā bhaved anyaḥ parantapa ||

Translation

Śaunaka nói: “Trong hàng quân vương, có người mát lành như tuyết; có người thiêu đốt như lửa; có người đáng sợ như chính Thần Chết. Lại có người như lưỡi cày hay như sấm sét, nhổ bật điều ác tận gốc và bất thần giáng xuống kẻ làm điều phi pháp. Bởi vậy, các bậc trị vì khác nhau về khí chất và cách giữ gìn trật tự, trừng phạt adharma.”

Word by Word

• हिमाग्निघोरसदृशः: resembling snow, fire, and the terrible (one)
• हिमाग्निघोरसदृशः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हिम + अग्नि + घोर + सदृश
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• राजा: king
• राजा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• भवति: becomes / is
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• कश्चन: some (one)
• कश्चन: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: कश्चन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• लाङ्गलाशनिकल्पः: like a plough (or) like a thunderbolt
• लाङ्गलाशनिकल्पः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: लाङ्गल + अशनि + कल्प
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वा: or
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा

• भवेत्: may be / would be
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Optative, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• अन्यः: another
• अन्यः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अन्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• परंतप: O scorcher of foes (epithet)
• Type: Noun
• Root: परंतप
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

शौनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śaunaka
• rājā (king)
• hima (snow)
• agni (fire)
• Yama (implied by 'Death' imagery in the sense of fearsome punishment)
• lāṅgala (plough)
• aśani (thunderbolt)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Rulership expresses itself in different temperaments—gentle restraint, fiery severity, fear-inducing authority, or sudden decisive punishment—but the ethical point is that a king’s power is meant to protect order by restraining and uprooting adharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śaunaka characterizes various kinds of kings through vivid similes (snow, fire, Death, plough, thunderbolt), setting up a discussion on how rulers administer discipline and maintain social order.