1.45
अहो बत महत्पापं कर्तुं व्यवसिता वयम् ।
यद्राज्यसुखलोभेन हन्तुं स्वजनमुद्यताः ॥
aho bata mahat pāpaṃ kartuṃ vyavasitā vayam
yad rājya-sukha-lobhena hantuṃ svajanam udyatāḥ
He turns on himself. The cascade becomes a confession.
The verse
Alas, we are resolved to do a great sin, that we stand ready to kill our own people out of greed for the pleasure of a kingdom.
नेपालीमा
हाय, हामी ठूलो पाप गर्न निश्चय गरेका छौं, राज्यको सुखको लोभले आफ्ना मानिसहरूलाई मार्न तयार उभिएका छौं।
Where it sits
vayam (वयम्) again. He includes his brothers in a greed he is feeling inside a single body. lobhena (लोभेन) is the instrumental of the motive, "by greed." The man who said in 1.32 that he does not desire victory is now saying the desire for kingdom-pleasure is what put them on the field. Both can be true of a person in the same hour. Desire put him there. Looking made the desire sick. He is confessing the first and feeling the second.
Split: अहो + बत + महत् + पापम् + कर्तुम् + व्यवसिताः + वयम् + यत् + राज्य-सुख-लोभेन + हन्तुम् + स्वजनम् + उद्यताः
aho + bata + mahat + pāpam + kartum + vyavasitāḥ + vayam + yat + rājya-sukha-lobhena + hantum + svajanam + udyatāḥ
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| अहो | aho | indeclinable | oh. |
| बत | bata | indeclinable | alas. A cry of grief or surprise. |
| महत् | mahat | nominative, neuter | great. |
| पापम् | pāpam | nominative | a sin. |
| कर्तुम् | kartum | infinitive | to do. |
| व्यवसिताः | vyavasitāḥ | nominative plural | resolved, determined. |
| वयम् | vayam | nominative | we. |
| यत् | yat | indeclinable, or the relative | that, in that. |
| राज्य-सुख-लोभेन | rājya-sukha-lobhena | instrumental | by greed for the pleasure of a kingdom. |
| हन्तुम् | hantum | infinitive | to kill. |
| उद्यताः | udyatāḥ | nominative plural | set out, ready, risen to the act. |
The phrases
aho bata (अहो बत) is the cry. No case ending. It sits in front of the sentence the way a sharp breath does.
mahat pāpaṃ kartuṃ vyavasitāḥ vayam (महत् पापं कर्तुं व्यवसिताः वयम्) is the confession. We are resolved to do a great sin. vyavasitāḥ (व्यवसिताः) agrees with vayam (वयम्). The infinitive kartum (कर्तुम्) is what they are resolved on.
yat rājyasukhalobhena (यत् राज्यसुखलोभेन) gives the motive. In that we are driven by greed for kingdom-pleasure. lobha (लोभ) was the other side's disease in 1.38. He now finds it on himself.
हन्तुं स्वजनम् उद्यताः hantuṃ svajanam udyatāḥ says the shape of the sin. Ready to kill our own people. udyatāḥ (उद्यताः) is a second description of vayam (वयम्), beside vyavasitāḥ (व्यवसिताः). Resolved, and already on the way.
Sanskrit in this line
aho bata (अहो बत) is an exclamation, indeclinable. It does not take a case and it does not modify a noun. Translate it as the sound it is, and let the sentence that follows carry the grammar. Students sometimes hunt for a verb inside aho bata (अहो बत). There is none.
lobhena (लोभेन) is instrumental of cause. "By greed, because of greed." You have now seen the instrumental as the person who acts (1.3), the feeling that seizes (1.27), the useless means (1.32), the fault that uproots (1.43), and the motive (here). One case, five jobs. The question to ask is always "by" or "with," and then to see what kind of "by" the sentence wants.
Say it back
The cry, what we are resolved to do, and the greed, in the instrumental.