Shloka 99

Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment

Parāśara’s Instruction

Devanagari script

सहस्राध्मातघण्टाय घण्टामालाप्रियाय च । प्राणघण्टाय गन्धाय नम: कलकलाय च

Transliteration

sahasrādhmātaghaṇṭāya ghaṇṭāmālāpriyāya ca | prāṇaghaṇṭāya gandhāya namaḥ kalakalāya ca ||

Translation

قال بهيشما: سلامٌ لمن يدوّي جرسُه كأنه نُفِخ ألف مرة؛ سلامٌ لمن يسرّه عقدُ الأجراس وأكاليلُها؛ سلامٌ لمن هو «جرسُ الحياة»؛ الرنينُ الحيويّ الباطن؛ سلامٌ للحضور العاطر؛ وسلامٌ لمن يكون صوتُه خريراً لطيفاً متموّجاً: «كَلَكَلَا» (kalakala).

Word by Word

सहस्राध्मातघण्टायto the (one) having a bell blown a thousand times / to the thousand-blown bell

घण्टामालाप्रियायto (her) who is fond of a garland of bells

चand

प्राणघण्टायto the life-bell / vital bell

गन्धायto fragrance

नमःsalutation

कलकलायto the tinkling/clamorous sound

चand

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

ghaṇṭā (bell)

ghaṇṭāmālā (garland of bells)

prāṇa (life-breath)

gandha (fragrance)

kalakala (tinkling/murmur sound)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches devotional recollection through auspicious attributes—especially sacred sound (bells, tinkling resonance) and fragrance—suggesting that steady attention to such divine markers refines the mind and supports dharmic clarity.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction-oriented setting, Bhīṣma speaks in a hymn-like mode, offering a sequence of salutations that praise the divine through evocative epithets centered on bell-sound and fragrance.