Shloka 32

उपदेशदोषप्रसङ्गः (Upadeśa-doṣa-prasaṅgaḥ) — The Risk of Misapplied Counsel

Devanagari script

यथोपदिष्ट मेधावी दर्भा्यादि यथातथम्‌ | हव्यकव्यविधिं कृत्स्नमुक्तं तेन तपस्विना,बुद्धिमान्‌ शूद्रने कुश, अर्घ्ध आदि तथा हव्य-कव्यकी विधि--सब कुछ उन तपस्वी मुनिके उपदेशके अनुसार ठीक-ठीक किया

Transliteration

yathopadiṣṭa medhāvī darbhyādi yathātatham | havyakavyavidhiṁ kṛtsnam uktaṁ tena tapasvinā ||

Translation

Bhishma sprach: „Der Weise führte alles genau so aus, wie es ihm angewiesen worden war—beginnend mit dem Darbha-Gras und den übrigen Erfordernissen—und vollzog das gesamte Verfahren der Opfergaben für die Götter (havis) und für die Ahnen (kavya), wie es jener Asket ihn gelehrt hatte.“

Word by Word

यथाas, in the manner that

उपदिष्टम्instructed, taught

मेधावीthe intelligent one

दर्भादिdarbha-grass etc.

यथाas

तथम्so, accordingly

हव्यकव्यविधिम्the procedure for offerings to gods and ancestors

कृत्स्नम्entire, complete

उक्तम्said, declared

तेनby him

तपस्विनाby the ascetic

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

tapasvī muni (ascetic sage/teacher)

darbha (sacrificial grass)

havya (offerings to gods)

kavya (offerings to ancestors/Pitṛs)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That ritual duty (dharma) should be performed precisely according to competent instruction: correctness in method—materials like darbha and the full havya–kavya procedure—reflects discipline, reverence, and ethical seriousness toward gods and ancestors.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma describes a person (the ‘medhāvī’) executing the complete set of rites for divine and ancestral offerings exactly as an ascetic teacher had prescribed, emphasizing faithful adherence to the taught ritual protocol.