Shloka 23

Devanagari script

स मासि मास्यध्वरकृद्‌ विधत्ते तमध्वरे वेदविद: पठन्ति । स एवोक्तश्नक्रमिदं त्रिनाभि सप्ताश्वयुक्त वहते वै त्रिधाम

Transliteration

sa māsi māsy adhvarakṛd vidhatte tam adhvare vedavidaḥ paṭhanti | sa evoktaśnākram idaṃ trinābhi saptāśvayuktaṃ vahate vai tridhāma ||

Translation

Bhishma sprach: „Monat um Monat vollzieht er ordnungsgemäß das Opferritual. In diesem Opfer rezitieren und verkünden die Veda-Kenner seine Vorzüge. Er allein trägt und erhält dieses Rad des Jahres — dreinabig, dreifach behaust und mit sieben Rossen bespannt — und wahrt so durch das Yajña den geordneten Lauf der Zeit.“

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'māsi māsi', 'definition': 'month after month

• regularly each month'}, {'term': 'adhvarakṛt', 'definition': 'performer of an adhvara (sacrifice)

• sacrificer'}, {'term': 'vidhatte', 'definition': 'arranges, performs, duly carries out'}, {'term': 'adhvare', 'definition': 'in the sacrifice

• in the ritual offering'}, {'term': 'vedavidaḥ', 'definition': 'knowers of the Veda

• Vedic experts'}, {'term': 'paṭhanti', 'definition': 'recite, chant, read aloud'}, {'term': 'sa eva', 'definition': 'he alone

• he indeed'}, {'term': 'trinābhi', 'definition': 'three-naved (having three hubs)

• metaphor for the year/time-cycle'}, {'term': 'saptāśva-yukta', 'definition': 'yoked with seven horses

• a solar/time imagery'}, {'term': 'tridhāma', 'definition': 'having three abodes/realms

• threefold domain (often read as a cosmic triad)'}, {'term': 'saṃvatsara-cakra (implied by context)', 'definition': 'the wheel/cycle of the year

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Veda-knowing Brahmins (vedavidaḥ)
• Adhvara/Yajña (sacrifice)
• Saṃvatsara-cakra (wheel of the year, implied)
• Seven horses (saptāśva)
• Three abodes/realms (tridhāma)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse links yajña (rightly performed sacrificial duty) with ṛta—the cosmic order—teaching that disciplined, recurring sacred action sustains the rhythm of time and the stability of the world.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma praises the exalted sacrificer who performs rites month after month; Vedic experts chant in that ritual, and he is described through cosmic imagery as the one who bears the year-wheel with its threefold structure and seven-horse symbolism.