Shloka 20

Varṇāśrama-ācāra and Vikarma: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry on Safe Dharmas (शिवधर्मप्रश्नः)

Devanagari script

शुश्रूषां सततं कुर्वन्‌ गुरो: सम्प्रणमेत च । षट्कर्मसु निवृत्तश्न न प्रवृत्तश्न सर्वश:

Transliteration

śuśrūṣāṃ satataṃ kurvan guroḥ saṃpraṇameta ca | ṣaṭkarmasu nivṛttaś ca na pravṛttaś ca sarvaśaḥ ||

Translation

ভীষ্ম বললেন—সে সর্বদা গুরুর সেবায় নিয়োজিত থাকবে এবং যথোচিতভাবে তাঁকে প্রণাম করবে। জীবিকার উদ্দেশ্যে গণ্য ছয় কর্ম—যজন-যাজন, অধ্যয়ন-অধ্যাপন, দান ও প্রতিগ্রহ—এগুলো থেকে সে বিরত থাকবে; এবং কোনোভাবেই অধর্মে প্রবৃত্ত হবে না।

Word by Word

• {'śuśrūṣā': 'attentive service

• devoted attendance (especially to a teacher/elder)', 'satatam': 'constantly

• always', 'kurvan': 'doing

• performing', 'guroḥ': 'of the guru/teacher', 'saṃpraṇameta': 'should bow

• should offer respectful obeisance', 'ca': 'and', 'ṣaṭ-karmasu': 'in the six acts/occupations (the sixfold set of duties often linked with Brahmin livelihood)', 'nivṛttaḥ': 'withdrawn

• abstaining', 'na': 'not', 'pravṛttaḥ': 'engaged

• involved', 'sarvaśaḥ': 'in every way

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• guru (teacher)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Continuous reverent service to one’s teacher and strict ethical restraint: avoid livelihood-driven religious/academic transactions (the six occupations) and never participate in adharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma lays down a rule of conduct for a disciplined seeker/student: humility before the guru, withdrawal from certain professionalized ritual/learning exchanges, and total avoidance of unrighteous acts.