Shloka 15

Treasury Security, Protection of Informants, and the Kalakavṛkṣīya Exemplum (Śānti Parva 83)

Devanagari script

तेन विप्रकृता: सर्वे राजयुक्ता: कुरूद्वह । तमस्यभिप्रसुप्तस्य निशि काकमवेधयन्‌

Transliteration

tena viprakṛtāḥ sarve rājayuktāḥ kurūdvaha | tamasy abhiprasuptasya niśi kākam avedhayan ||

Translation

毗湿摩言：“噫，俱卢之雄！王之诸侍从皆为那仙人所辱，遂于夜色幽暗之中，以箭贯穿熟睡之乌鸦，将其射杀。”

Word by Word

• तेन: by him/thereby
• तेन: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• विप्रकृताः: insulted/ill-treated
• विप्रकृताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विप्रकृत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सर्वे: all
• सर्वे: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• राजयुक्ताः: king’s attendants/officials
• राजयुक्ताः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजयुक्त
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• कुरूद्वह: O bearer of the Kurus (best of Kurus)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुरु-उद्वह
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• तमसि: in darkness
• तमसि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: तमस्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• अभिप्रसुप्तस्य: of (one) fast asleep
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अभि-प्र-सुप्त
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• निशि: at night
• निशि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: निशा
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

• काकम्: a crow
• काकम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: काक
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अवेधयन्: they pierced
• Type: Verb
• Root: अव-व्यध्
• Form: Imperfect (Lan), 3rd, Plural, Parasmaipada

• कुरुश्रेष्ठ: O best of the Kurus
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुरु-श्रेष्ठ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Kuru (addressee: Kurūdvaha)
• rājayuktāḥ (royal attendants/officials)
• muni (sage, implied by context)
• kāka (crow)
• bāṇa (arrow, implied by context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Humiliation and wounded pride can provoke disproportionate retaliation; dharma requires restraint and discernment, especially for those connected with royal authority, because impulsive violence quickly becomes adharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

After being slighted by a sage, the king’s attendants act at night in the dark and shoot a sleeping crow with an arrow, killing it—an act presented as a morally blameworthy response born from resentment.