Shloka 20

Mantri-Parīkṣā — Testing Ministers, Securing Counsel, and Ethical Criteria for Advisers (अध्याय ८४)

Devanagari script

यौना: श्रौतास्तथा मौलास्तथैवाप्यनहंकृता: । कर्तव्या भूतिकामेन पुरुषेण बुभूषता

Transliteration

yaunāḥ śrautās tathā maulās tathaivāpy anahaṅkṛtāḥ | kartavyā bhūtikāmena puruṣeṇa bubhūṣatā ||

Translation

قال بهيشما: من يبتغي الرخاء ويريد أن يصون حياته وينمّيها، فعليه أن يؤدي على وجهها اللائق الطقوسَ المألوفة المتصلة بالأسرة والسلالة، والطقوسَ الفيدية (شروتا śrauta)، وما توارثه البيت من شعائر—كل ذلك بلا كِبر ولا تعاظم.

Word by Word

यौनाःsexual (rites/acts)

श्रौताःVedic/śrauta (prescribed by Śruti)

तथाthus; likewise

मौलाःtraditional; customary (rooted in family/usage)

तथाand likewise

एवindeed; just

अपिalso

अनहंकृताःdone without ego; free from ‘I’-sense

कर्तव्याःto be done; should be performed

भूतिकामेनby one desiring prosperity/welfare

पुरुषेणby a man/person

बुभूषताby one wishing to be/exist (to thrive)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Prosperity and stability are to be pursued through disciplined performance of both Vedic (śrauta) and inherited family duties, but the decisive ethical condition is humility—doing them without ahaṅkāra (ego).

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs on dharma and right conduct; here he advises that a person aiming at welfare should maintain ritual and customary obligations—Vedic and familial—while remaining free from self-importance.