Shloka 16

Devanagari script

आदित्या वसवो रुद्रा: साश्रिन: पितरो5डपि च । धर्म: श्रुत॑ तपो दीक्षा व्यवसाय: पितामह:

Transliteration

ādityā vasavo rudrāḥ sāśrinaḥ pitaro ’pi ca | dharmaḥ śrutaṃ tapo dīkṣā vyavasāyaḥ pitāmahaḥ ||

Translation

قال بهيشما: «لتَحْمِنا الآدِتْيَات (Ādityas)، والفَسُو (Vasus)، والرودرا (Rudras)، والآباء الأسلاف (Pitṛs)، وكذلك الدَّرْمَا (Dharma)؛ ولتحمِنا الشُّرُتي (śruti: العلم الموحى)، والتَّپَس (tapas: الزهد/النسك)، والدِّيكشا (dīkṣā: الانضباط التقديسي)، والوَيَفَسَايَا (vyavasāya: العزم الثابت)، ومعهم بيتامها (Pitāmaha: الجدّ الأعظم).»

Word by Word

• आदित्याः: the Adityas
• आदित्याः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: आदित्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• वसवः: the Vasus
• वसवः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वसु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• रुद्राः: the Rudras
• रुद्राः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: रुद्र
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• स: with
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: स

• आश्रिणः: together with the Āśrins (a class of beings)
• आश्रिणः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आश्रिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• पितरः: the Pitṛs (manes)
• पितरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• अपि: also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• धर्मः: Dharma
• धर्मः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• श्रुतम्: what is heard; Vedic revelation
• श्रुतम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रुत
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• तपः: austerity
• तपः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपस्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• दीक्षा: initiation; consecration
• दीक्षा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: दीक्षा
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• व्यवसायः: effort; resolve; undertaking
• व्यवसायः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्यवसाय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पितामहः: the Grandfather (Brahmā)
• पितामहः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितामह
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Ādityas
• Vasus
• Rudras
• Pitṛs (ancestors)
• Dharma
• Śruti (Vedic revelation)
• Tapas (austerity)
• Dīkṣā (initiation/discipline)
• Vyavasāya (resolve)
• Pitāmaha (Brahmā)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Protection and well-being are grounded in alignment with Dharma and the disciplines that uphold it—sacred learning (śruti), austerity (tapas), consecrated practice (dīkṣā), and steadfast resolve (vyavasāya)—along with reverence for cosmic and ancestral orders.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is reciting a protective invocation within a broader catalogue of divine and cosmic lineages. He names major classes of gods and moral-spiritual principles, asking them to guard the listeners, thereby framing ethical life as participation in a larger sacred order.