Shloka 18
Gautama’s Flight, the Enchanted Grove, and the Arrival of Rājadharma
Nāḍījaṅgha
आर्यता नाम भूतानां यः करोति प्रयत्नतः । शुभं कर्म निराकारो वीतरागस्तथैव च
āryatā nāma bhūtānāṃ yaḥ karoti prayatnataḥ | śubhaṃ karma nirākāro vītarāgas tathaiva ca ||
قال بهيشما: «إنّ āryatā (النُّبل الحقّ) هو اسمُ تلك السجية في الإنسان الذي، بجهدٍ مقصود، يداوم على فعل الأعمال الصالحة المباركة لخير الكائنات—من غير استعراضٍ للذات، وهو منزّه عن التعلّق. ولا يُنال هذا النبل إلا بترك الشهوة وروح التملّك.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
True nobility (āryatā) is not birth or status but a cultivated inner disposition: doing good for all beings with steady effort, without seeking recognition, and with freedom from attachment. Detachment is presented as the condition that makes such pure beneficence possible.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma after the war, Bhīṣma teaches Yudhiṣṭhira about virtues and right conduct. Here he defines ‘āryatā’ as unostentatious, attachment-free beneficence toward living beings.