Shloka 23

Kīṭopākhyāna: Prajā-pālana as Kṣatra-vrata and the Attainment of Brāhmaṇya

Devanagari script

सर्वमांसानि यो राजन्‌ यावज्जीवं न भक्षयेत्‌ । स्वर्गे स विपुल स्थान प्राप्त॒ुयान्नात्र संशय:

Transliteration

sarvamāṁsāni yo rājan yāvajjīvaṁ na bhakṣayet | svarge sa vipulaṁ sthānaṁ prāpnuyān nātra saṁśayaḥ ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“大王啊，凡人终其一生不食任何众生之肉者，必于天界得尊贵而广大的位处——对此毫无疑问。”

Word by Word

• सर्वमांसानि: all kinds of flesh/meat
• सर्वमांसानि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्वमांस (सर्व + मांस)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• यः: who
• यः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• यावत्-जीवम्: as long as one lives; throughout life
• यावत्-जीवम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यावत् + जीवम्

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• भक्षयेत्: should eat/consume
• Type: Verb
• Root: भक्ष्
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• स्वर्गे: in heaven
• स्वर्गे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वर्ग
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• विपुलम्: vast, abundant
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विपुल
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• स्थानम्: place, station
• स्थानम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्थान
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• प्राप्नुयात्: would obtain/attain
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + आप्
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• अत्र: here; in this matter
• अत्र: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अत्र

• संशयः: doubt
• संशयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: संशय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Yudhiṣṭhira (addressed as rājan)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Lifelong abstention from eating the flesh of living beings is presented as a dharmic restraint that yields great spiritual merit, culminating in an exalted heavenly attainment.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma’s instruction to King Yudhiṣṭhira in the Anuśāsana Parva, he states a specific ethical rule—avoiding meat throughout life—and links it to the fruit of attaining a vast and superior place in heaven.