Shloka 30

अरण्यवृत्ति-वैराग्योपदेशः | Forest Discipline and the Program of Non-Attachment

Devanagari script

कुशलाकुशलान्येके कृत्वा कर्माणि मानवा: । कार्यकारणसंश्लिष्टं स्वजनं नाम बिभ्रति

Transliteration

kuśalākuśalāny eke kṛtvā karmāṇi mānavāḥ | kāryakāraṇasaṃśliṣṭaṃ svajanaṃ nāma bibhrati ||

Translation

有些人行过善业也造过恶业，却仍维系着他们所谓的“自己人”——一圈亲族与盟友，以目的与手段、利益与因果的算计相互捆缚在一起。

Word by Word

• कुशल: welfare, good
• कुशल: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुशल
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• अकुशलानि: harm, ill
• अकुशलानि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अकुशल
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• एके: some (people)
• एके: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• कृत्वा: having done
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage-neutral)

• कर्माणि: actions, deeds
• कर्माणि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्मन्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• मानवाः: men, humans
• मानवाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मानव
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• कार्यकारणसंश्लिष्टम्: bound up with cause and effect (duty and reason)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कार्यकारणसंश्लिष्ट
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• स्वजनम्: one's own people/kinsman
• स्वजनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वजन
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• नाम: indeed; as it were; by name
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नाम

• बिभ्रति: they bear/maintain
• Type: Verb
• Root: भृ
• Form: Present (लट्), Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Yudhiṣṭhira points to a common ethical tension: people commit both good and bad actions, yet continue to uphold a ‘circle of their own’ formed not purely by virtue but by entanglement in purposes and instruments—pragmatic calculations of benefit, causality, and obligation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s reflective setting after the war, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks in a questioning, analytical tone about human conduct and social bonds, observing how individuals justify and preserve their affiliations (svajana) despite mixed moral behavior.