Shloka 5

अहिंसा-प्रधान धर्मविचारः

Ahiṃsā as the Superior Dharma: Practical and Scriptural Reasoning

Devanagari script

प्रियान्‌ पुत्रान्‌ वयस्यांश्व भ्रातृन्‌ नर पितृनपि । अपध्यास्यन्ति यद्येवं मृतास्तेषां बिभेम्पहम्‌

Transliteration

priyān putrān vayasyāṁś ca bhrātṝn nara pitṝn api | apadhyāsyanti yad evaṁ mṛtās teṣāṁ bibhemy aham ||

Translation

那罗陀说道：“人啊，若我杀害人们所爱之子、朋友、兄弟，乃至父亲，那么他们的亲族——见其如此被杀——必将对我怀抱怨毒与敌意。因此我极其畏惧那些人。”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'प्रियान् (priyān)', 'definition': 'beloved (persons)'}, {'term': 'पुत्रान् (putrān)', 'definition': 'sons'}, {'term': 'वयस्यान् (vayasyān)', 'definition': 'companions of the same age

• friends'}, {'term': 'भ्रातॄन् (bhrātṝn)', 'definition': 'brothers'}, {'term': 'नर (nara)', 'definition': 'O man (vocative address)'}, {'term': 'पितॄन् (pitṝn)', 'definition': 'fathers

• forefathers/elders'}, {'term': 'अपध्यास्यन्ति (apadhyāsyanti)', 'definition': 'they will think ill of

• they will harbor hostile suspicion/ill-will'}, {'term': 'मृताः (mṛtāḥ)', 'definition': 'dead

• slain'}, {'term': 'तेषाम् (teṣām)', 'definition': 'of them

• their'}, {'term': 'बिभेमि (bibhemi)', 'definition': 'I fear'}, {'term': 'अहम् (aham)', 'definition': 'I'}]

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Nārada

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical and social consequences of violence: killing beloved family and companions invites hostile remembrance and resentment from survivors, creating fear and moral hesitation. It frames harm not only as physical destruction but as a cause of enduring ill-will and karmic-social backlash.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada voices a concern about the aftermath of slaying close relations—sons, friends, brothers, and fathers—stating that the relatives of the slain will harbor malicious thoughts toward the killer; this anticipated enmity becomes a reason for fear.