Shloka 56

Devanagari script

त्याजितो हि मया जातिमेष राजा भृगूद्धह | ततस्तेनाभ्यनुज्ञातो ययौ राजा प्रतर्दन:

Transliteration

tyājito hi mayā jātim eṣa rājā bhṛgūddhaha | tatas tenābhyanujñāto yayau rājā pratardanaḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma sagte: „Wahrlich, ich habe diesen König—Pratardana, den Hervorragendsten unter den Bhṛgu—dazu gezwungen, seine Kasten-Identität aufzugeben. Danach, nachdem er von ihm die Erlaubnis erhalten hatte, zog König Pratardana fort.“

Word by Word

त्याजितःwas caused to abandon / was made to give up

हिindeed / for

मयाby me

जातिम्caste / birth-status

एषःthis

राजाking

भृगूद्धहO foremost among the Bhṛgus

ततःthen / thereafter

तेनby him

अभ्यनुज्ञातःhaving been permitted / authorized

ययौwent

राजाthe king

प्रतर्दनःPratardana

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Pratardana

Bhṛgu (lineage/people: Bhṛgus)

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?

The verse highlights the ethical tension between birth-based identity (jāti) and conduct/discipline: a respected figure (Bhīṣma, in narration) can compel a ruler to relinquish attachment to social identity, implying that dharma may demand transcending mere birth-status when higher moral or spiritual aims are at stake.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma recounts that he caused King Pratardana—praised as eminent among the Bhṛgus—to give up his jāti-identity. After this act, Pratardana receives permission (abhyanujñā) and then departs, indicating the close of an instruction/disciplinary episode.