Shloka 37

Dvaītavana: Brahmaghoṣa, Rṣi-saṅgha, and Baka Dālbhyā’s Upadeśa to Yudhiṣṭhira

Devanagari script

न निर्मन्यु:क्षत्रियो$स्ति लोके निर्वचनं स्मृतम्‌ । तदद्य त्वयि पश्यामि क्षत्रिये विपरीतवत्‌,संसारमें कोई भी क्षत्रिय क्रोधरहित नहीं होता, क्षत्रिय शब्दकी व्युत्पत्ति ही ऐसी है, जिससे उसका सक्रोध होना सूचित होता है।- परंतु आज आप-चजैसे क्षत्रियमें मुझे यह क्रोधका अभाव क्षत्रियत्वके विपरीत-सा दिखायी देता है

Transliteration

na nir manyuḥ kṣatriyo 'sti loke nirvacanaṁ smṛtam | tad adya tvayi paśyāmi kṣatriye viparītavat ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana nói: “Trong đời, người ta vẫn nhớ như một định nghĩa đã thành lệ rằng không có kṣatriya nào không có phẫn nộ; ngay cả nguồn gốc của chữ ‘kṣatriya’ cũng hàm ý sự sẵn sàng nổi giận để bảo hộ trật tự. Thế mà hôm nay, nơi ngài—dẫu là một kṣatriya—ta lại thấy sự vắng bóng của cơn giận, như thể trái với bản tính kṣatriya.”

Word by Word

• {'na': 'not', 'nir': 'without (prefix)', 'manyuḥ': 'anger, wrath, spirited indignation', 'kṣatriyaḥ': 'member of the warrior-ruler class

• protector', 'asti': 'is/exists', 'loke': 'in the world', 'nirvacanam': 'definition

• etymological explanation/derivation', 'smṛtam': 'remembered

• recorded in tradition', 'tat': 'that', 'adya': 'today/now', 'tvayi': 'in you', 'paśyāmi': 'I see/observe', 'kṣatriye': 'in/with regard to a kṣatriya (voc./loc. sense by context)', 'viparītavat': 'as if opposite

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• kṣatriya (warrior class)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse contrasts the conventional expectation of kṣatriya ‘manyu’ (protective wrath/spirited indignation) with an observed restraint, raising an ethical question: when is anger a duty-bound force for protection, and when is its absence a higher form of self-mastery within dharma?

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana comments on a kṣatriya’s unexpected lack of anger, noting that tradition commonly defines kṣatriyas as not being ‘nir-manyu’ (without wrath). The remark highlights a perceived reversal of the usual warrior temperament at this moment in the story.