Shloka 72

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

Devanagari script

उपदेशो न कर्तव्य: कदाचिदपि कस्यचित्‌ | उपदेशाद्धि तत्‌ पापं ब्राह्मण: समवाप्नुयात्‌,ब्राह्मणको चाहिये कि वह कभी किसीको उपदेश न करे; क्योंकि उपदेश करनेसे वह शिष्यके पापको स्वयं ग्रहण करता है

Transliteration

upadeśo na kartavyaḥ kadācid api kasyacit | upadeśād dhi tat pāpaṃ brāhmaṇaḥ samavāpnuyāt |

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: Ein Brāhmaṇa soll niemals zu jeder Zeit und jedwedem ohne Unterscheidung Belehrung erteilen; denn durch solches Unterweisen, so heißt es, lädt er jene Sünde auf sich—als nähme er das Fehlverhalten des Schülers auf seine eigene Seele.

Word by Word

उपदेशःinstruction/advice

नnot

कर्तव्यःto be done/should be done

कदाचित्ever/at any time

अपिeven/also

कस्यचित्of anyone

उपदेशात्from/through instruction (i.e., by giving instruction)

हिindeed/for

तत्that

पापम्sin/evil

ब्राह्मणःa Brahmin

समवाप्नुयात्would obtain/incur

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Brāhmaṇa

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?

Instruction is not morally neutral: a teacher must exercise discernment about whom to teach and under what conditions, because improper teaching can make the teacher complicit in, or bearer of, the disciple’s wrongdoing.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma’s discourse on dharma (Anuśāsana Parva), he lays down a restrictive rule about giving upadeśa, warning that a Brāhmaṇa who teaches indiscriminately may incur pāpa connected with the recipient.