Shloka 20

Rājapurohita-lakṣaṇa and Purūravas–Vāyu Saṃvāda

Varṇa, Sovereignty, and Abhaya-dāna

Devanagari script

देवा मनुष्या: पितरो गन्धर्वोरगराक्षसा:

Transliteration

devā manuṣyāḥ pitaro gandharvoragarākṣasāḥ

Translation

Aila nói: “Chư thiên, loài người, các Pitṛ (tổ tiên), các Gandharva, các Uraga (chúng xà thần), và các Rākṣasa …” (Ông bắt đầu liệt kê bao quát các loài hữu tình, cho thấy điều sắp nói có hiệu lực rộng khắp trong trật tự đạo lý và vũ trụ.)

Word by Word

• देवाः: gods
• देवाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: देव
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• मनुष्याः: humans
• मनुष्याः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मनुष्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• पितरः: manes / ancestors
• पितरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• गन्धर्वाः: Gandharvas (celestial musicians)
• गन्धर्वाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गन्धर्व
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• उरगाः: serpents
• उरगाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: उरग
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• राक्षसाः: Rakshasas (demons)
• राक्षसाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: राक्षस
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

ऐल उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Aila (speaker)
• Devas
• Manuṣyas
• Pitṛs
• Gandharvas
• Uragas (serpent-beings)
• Rākṣasas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

By listing multiple orders of beings—divine, human, ancestral, and other non-human classes—the speaker frames the forthcoming point as universally relevant within dharma, not restricted to a single community or species.

What is happening in the narrative?

Aila begins a statement by enumerating various classes of beings, a common epic device used to broaden the scope of an assertion or to indicate that many kinds of beings are implicated in, witness to, or governed by the same ethical principle.