Shloka 7

Pātra-Lakṣaṇa and Niścita-Dharma

Marks of a Worthy Recipient and Stable Criteria of Dharma

Devanagari script

प्रेषितस्तेन विप्रेण कन्यापित्रा द्विजर्षभ । तवोपदेशं कर्तु वै तच्च सर्व कृतं मया

Transliteration

preṣitas tena vipreṇa kanyāpitṛā dvijarṣabha | tavopadeśaṁ kartu vai tac ca sarvaṁ kṛtaṁ mayā ||

Translation

Bhishma sprach: „O Bester der Brahmanen, ich wurde von jenem Brahmanen — dem Vater der Jungfrau — gesandt, um dir eine Unterweisung zu überbringen. Dieser ganze Auftrag ist nun von mir erfüllt worden.“

Word by Word

• {'preṣitaḥ': 'sent, dispatched', 'tena': 'by him/that person', 'vipreṇa': 'by the Brahmin (instrumental singular of vipra)', 'kanyā-pitṛā': 'by the maiden’s father', 'dvija-ṛṣabha': 'bull among the twice-born

• best of Brahmins (vocative)', 'tava': 'to you/your', 'upadeśam': 'instruction, counsel, teaching', 'kartuṁ': 'to do, to carry out', 'vai': 'indeed, surely (emphatic particle)', 'tat ca': 'and that', 'sarvam': 'all, the whole (of it)', 'kṛtam': 'done, accomplished', 'mayā': 'by me'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• a Brahmin (vipra)
• the maiden’s father (kanyāpitṛ)
• the addressed Brahmin (dvijarṣabha)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes faithful execution of a entrusted duty: a messenger or agent should deliver the intended instruction accurately and complete the assigned task without deviation.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma addresses a Brahmin, explaining that he had been sent by another Brahmin—identified as a maiden’s father—to give counsel, and that Bhishma has now fully carried out that mission.