कथम् आत्म सुतान् हित्वा त्रायसे अन्य सुतम् विभो। अकार्यम् इव पश्याम: श्व मांसम् इव भोजने
Meaning
O Lord protecting other's son by abandoning one' own is like partaking the flesh of a dog. We consider it a prohibited act".
Word-by-word (pada-artha)
| Word | Devanagari | Meaning | Grammatical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| katham ātma-sutān hitvā | कथम् आत्म-सुतान् हित्वा | how, having abandoned your own sons | Interrogative / Accusative plural / Gerund |
| trāyase anya-sutam vibho | त्रायसे अन्य-सुतम् विभो | do you save another's son, O lord | Verb (present, middle) / Accusative / Vocative |
| akāryam iva paśyāmaḥ | अकार्यम् इव पश्यामः | we regard it as improper | Accusative / Comparative / Verb (present) |
| śva-māṃsam iva bhojane | श्व-मांसम् इव भोजने | like dog-flesh in a meal | Accusative / Comparative / Locative |
Scholar commentary
valmikiramayan.net Prose Commentary
Desiraju Hanumanta Rao's prose rendering with embedded explanatory notes
The source traces the 'dog's meat' language in the sons' refusal to a parable told in the Mahabharata: Vishvamitra himself, once driven by desperate hunger, was caught red-handed eating dog's meat. That episode became a recurring taunt leveled against him ever after, which is presumably why he chose the same charge -- eating dog's meat -- when cursing Vashishtha's sons earlier in the legend, and now repeats it against his own sons here for their defiance.
1 of 16 traditions have commentary on this shloka. Traditions without a verse-specific commentary here are omitted rather than filled in.
Reference: 1.62.14 · Bāla Kāṇḍa