Shloka 38

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

Devanagari script

तात! इसी प्रकार वे ऋषि भी कालधर्म-मृत्युको प्राप्त हुए। भरतश्रेष्ठ! वे ही ऋषि दूसरे जन्ममें उसी राजवंशके पुरोहितके कुलमें उत्पन्न हुए। इस प्रकार वह शूद्र और वे मुनि दोनों ही वहाँ उत्पन्न हुए, क्रमश: बढ़े और सब प्रकारकी विद्याओंमें निपुण हो गये ।। अथर्ववेदे वेदे च बभूवर्षि: सुनिष्ठित: । कल्पप्रयोगे चोत्पन्ने ज्योतिषे च परं गत:

Transliteration

tāta! evaṃprakāreṇa te ṛṣayo 'pi kāladharma-mṛtyuṃ prāptāḥ | bharataśreṣṭha! te eva ṛṣayaḥ dvitīye janmani tasmin rājavaṃśe purohitasya kule utpannāḥ | evaṃ sa śūdraś ca te munayaś ca ubhau tatra utpannau, kramaśaḥ vavṛdhāte, sarvaprakārāsu vidyāsu nipuṇābhavatām || atharvavede vede ca babhūvarṣiḥ suniṣṭhitaḥ | kalpaprayoge cotpanne jyotiṣe ca paraṃ gataḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma sprach: „Mein Lieber, ebenso trafen auch jene Weisen den Tod, der nach dem Gesetz der Zeit kommt. O Bester der Bharatas, eben diese Rishis wurden in einem späteren Leben erneut geboren, in der Familie des königlichen Priesters (Purohita) jener Dynastie. So wurden jener Śūdra und jene Asketen dort geboren, wuchsen der Ordnung der Zeit gemäß heran und wurden in allen Zweigen des Wissens kundig. Er wurde ein Rishi, fest gegründet im Atharvaveda und in vedischer Erkenntnis, und erlangte die höchste Meisterschaft in der rituellen Anwendung (Kalpa) und in der Sternkunde (Jyotiṣa).“

Word by Word

अथर्ववेदेin the Atharvaveda

वेदेin the Veda

चand

बभूवbecame/was

ऋषिःa sage

सुनिष्ठितःwell-accomplished/firmly established

कल्पप्रयोगेin the application of ritual procedure (kalpa-prayoga)

चand

उत्पन्नेin (that which is) arisen/produced

ज्योतिषेin astronomy/astrology (jyotiṣa)

चand

परम्the highest (state/goal)

गतःhaving gone/attained

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Ṛ

ṛṣayaḥ (sages)

munayaḥ (ascetics)

śūdra (a Śūdra person)

bharataśreṣṭha (addressee from Bharata line)

purohita (royal priest)

rājavaṃśa (royal dynasty)

Atharvaveda

Veda (Vedic learning)

Kalpa

Jyotiṣa

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 passage emphasizes kāladharma—the inevitability of death under time’s law—and the continuity of moral and intellectual development across rebirths. It also highlights that learning and ritual competence (Veda, Kalpa, Jyotiṣa) can be attained through disciplined growth, regardless of prior circumstances, within the framework of karmic return.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma explains that certain sages died according to the natural course of time and were then reborn in a later life within the family of a royal priest. Along with a Śūdra born there, they grew up step by step and became accomplished in many disciplines; one is described as becoming firmly established in Atharvavedic and Vedic learning and excelling in ritual procedure and Jyotiṣa.