मृग उवाच
नाहं घ्नन्तं मृगान् राजन् विगर्हे आत्मकारणात् ॥
मैथुनं तु प्रतीक्ष्यं मे स्यात् त्वयेहानृशंसतः ॥
सर्वभूतहिते काले सर्वभूतेप्सिते तथा ॥
को हि विद्वान् मृगं हन्याच् चरन्तं मैथुनं वने ॥
पुरुषार्थफलं कान्तं यत् त्वया वितथं कृतम् ॥
पौरवाणाम् ऋषीणां च तेषाम् अक्लिष्टकर्मणाम् ॥
वंशे जातस्य कौरव्य नानुरूपम् इदं तव ॥
नृशंसं कर्म सुमहत् सर्वलोकविगर्हितम् ॥
अस्वर्ग्यम् अयशस्यं च अधर्मिष्ठं च भारत ॥
mṛga uvāca
nāhaṃ ghnantaṃ mṛgān rājan vigarhe ātmakāraṇāt ||
maithunaṃ tu pratīkṣyaṃ me syāt tvayehānṛśaṃsataḥ ||
sarvabhūtahite kāle sarvabhūtepsite tathā ||
ko hi vidvān mṛgaṃ hanyāc carantaṃ maithunaṃ vane ||
puruṣārthaphalaṃ kāntaṃ yat tvayā vitathaṃ kṛtam ||
pauravāṇām ṛṣīṇāṃ ca teṣām akliṣṭakarmaṇām ||
vaṃśe jātasya kauravya nānurūpam idaṃ tava ||
nṛśaṃsaṃ karma sumahat sarvalokavigarhitam ||
asvargyam ayaśasyaṃ ca adharmiṣṭhaṃ ca bhārata ||
The deer said: 'Not for killing deer for sustenance, O king, do I reproach you; but out of gentleness you ought to have waited for my mating. At the moment that serves the good of all beings and is desired by all beings — what wise man would kill a deer mating in the forest? That longed-for reward, the fruit of one of the aims of life, you have made vain. Born into the lineage of the Pauravas and of those sages whose deeds are faultless — this does not befit you, O Kaurava: a cruel deed, exceedingly grave, condemned by all the worlds, not leading to heaven, inglorious, and utterly lawless, O Bharata.'
6a075b46a19e · published Jul 12, 2026, 4:30:27 PM UTC
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Here the sage discloses Pandu's true guilt — not the hunt itself, but the killing at the sacred moment of the continuation of life. It is notable that mating is called 'that which serves the good of all beings and is desired by all beings' (sarvabhutahite... sarvabhutepsite): the continuation of life is a good for the whole universe, and therefore the moment of conception is inviolable. Here the sanctity of life and its continuation is affirmed: to cut down a being at the moment it gives rise to new life is an especially grave sin, for not one life but many are destroyed. Notable, too, is the appeal to lineage: 'this does not befit a descendant of the righteous' — nobility of birth imposes a correspondingly higher measure of responsibility. Thus the scripture, through the sage's voice, raises the spirit of dharma above the letter: not everything permitted in general is permitted always and everywhere; compassion and fitness of occasion are the measure of righteousness, and one who violates them even 'by right' commits lawlessness that forfeits heaven.