Shloka 16

त्रिवर्गविचारः

Tri-varga Deliberation: Dharma, Artha, Kāma

Devanagari script

अकार्पण्यमसंरम्भ: संतोष: प्रियवादिता । अविहिंसानसूया चाप्येषां समुदयो दम:

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | akāṛpaṇyam asaṃrambhaḥ santoṣaḥ priyavāditā | avihiṃsā anasūyā cāpy eṣāṃ samudayo damaḥ ||

Translation

ভীষ্ম বললেন— কৃপণতার অভাব, অস্থির উত্তেজনার অনুপস্থিতি, সন্তোষ, মধুর বাক্য বলার স্বভাব; এবং অহিংসা ও পরনিন্দা না করা— এই সব গুণের একত্র উদয়ই ‘দম’ (আত্মসংযম)।

Word by Word

• {'bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', 'akāṛpaṇya (akārpaṇya)': 'non-miserliness

• absence of petty-mindedness', 'asaṃrambha': 'non-impulsiveness

• absence of violent excitement or rashness', 'santoṣa': 'contentment

• satisfaction', 'priyavāditā': 'pleasant speech

• speaking kindly and agreeably', 'avihiṃsā': 'non-injury

• non-violence toward living beings', 'anasūyā': 'non-carping

• freedom from envy and fault-finding', 'samudaya': 'arising together

• conjunction', 'dama': 'self-restraint

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma defines dama (self-restraint) not as a single act but as the combined rise of key virtues—generosity, calmness, contentment, kind speech, non-violence, and non-fault-finding—showing that inner discipline is measured by stable ethical dispositions.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma continues his didactic discourse, offering Yudhishthira a concise definition of dama by listing the traits that together constitute genuine self-restraint.