Shloka 18

Adhyāya 118: Saciva-parīkṣā

Testing and Appointment of Ministers/Servants

Devanagari script

ततो रुधिरतर्षेण बलिना शरभो<न्वित:

Transliteration

tato rudhiratarṣeṇa balinā śarabho'nvitaḥ

Translation

ثم إنّ القويَّ—المتَّصف بطبيعة الشَّرَبَه (śarabha)—اندفعَ مدفوعًا بعطشٍ إلى الدم، وقد اشتدّت قوّتُه وحدّتُها بشهوةٍ عنيفةٍ لا تُكبح.

Word by Word

• ततः: then, thereafter
• ततः: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (तद्-प्रातिपदिकात् अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya (indeclinable)

• रुधिरतर्षेण: by/with blood-thirst
• रुधिरतर्षेण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रुधिरतर्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• बलिना: by the strong (one)
• बलिना: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बलिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• शरभः: the Śarabha (a mythical beast)
• शरभः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शरभ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अन्वितः: endowed with, possessed of
• अन्वितः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्वि + क्त (अन्वित) (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• śarabha

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Power becomes ethically dangerous when fueled by craving—here symbolized as a “thirst for blood.” Bhīṣma’s broader instruction in Śānti Parva repeatedly stresses restraint (dama) and the governance of impulses as essential to dharma, especially for rulers and the strong.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma describes a figure whose strength is intensified by violent desire, likened to or accompanied by the fierce śarabha. The phrase functions as a vivid narrative image of escalating aggression within an instructive discourse.