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

阿伊拉说道：“诸天、世人、祖灵（Pitṛ）、乾闼婆、乌罗伽（蛇类众生），以及罗刹……”（他以包罗万类的列举开端，表明所要阐明之理，广泛适用于道德与宇宙秩序之中。）

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.