Shloka 16
Adhyāya 3: Indra’s Invitation and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Refusal to Abandon the Dog
Svargārohaṇa Test
भीतिप्रदानं शरणागतस्य स्त्रिया वधो ब्राह्मणस्वापहार: । मित्रद्रोहस्तानि चत्वारि शक्र भक्तत्यागश्चनैव समो मतो मे
bhītipradānaṁ śaraṇāgatasya striyā vadho brāhmaṇasvāpahāraḥ | mitradrohas tāni catvāri śakra bhaktatyāgaś ca naiva samo mato me ||
郁提希提罗说道：“恐吓来投靠求庇护者、杀害妇女、劫夺婆罗门之财、背叛友人——此四者，释迦（因陀罗）啊，皆为重罪；然依我之见，无一能与舍弃虔敬（对神圣的奉爱）相等。”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse ranks grave ethical violations—terrorizing a refuge-seeker, killing a woman, stealing a brāhmaṇa’s property, and betraying a friend—and then asserts that abandoning devotion is, in Yudhiṣṭhira’s moral vision, an even more serious spiritual downfall, because it severs one’s inner orientation toward the highest good.
In the Mahāprasthānika context, Yudhiṣṭhira is articulating a hierarchy of wrongdoing while addressing Śakra (Indra), emphasizing that beyond social and interpersonal crimes, the loss of steadfast devotion is portrayed as the most ruinous lapse for one who seeks the highest path at life’s end.