Shloka 58

कर्णनिधनवृत्तान्तनिवेदनम् | Reporting Karṇa’s Fall to Yudhiṣṭhira

Devanagari script

धारणाद्‌ धर्ममित्याहुर्धर्मों धारयते प्रजा: । यत्‌ स्यथाद्‌ धारणसंयुक्त स धर्म इति निश्चय:

Transliteration

dhāraṇād dharmam ity āhur dharmo dhārayate prajāḥ | yat syād dhāraṇa-saṃyuktaṃ sa dharma iti niścayaḥ ||

Translation

Man sagt, es heiße Dharma, weil es trägt und aufrechterhält. Dharma trägt die Menschen. Darum ist alles, was mit diesem „Aufrechterhalten“ verbunden ist—alles, was Leben erhält und Lebewesen schützt—gewiss Dharma. Dies ist die feststehende Schlussfolgerung der Dharma-Śāstras.

Word by Word

• {'dhāraṇāt': 'from upholding, sustaining, supporting (ablative of dhāraṇā)', 'dharmaḥ': 'dharma

• that which sustains', 'iti': 'thus

• as said', 'āhuḥ': 'they say

• they declare', 'dhārayate': 'upholds, supports, sustains', 'prajāḥ': 'creatures

• people', 'yat': 'whatever

• that which', 'syāt': 'may be

• is (optative/possibility sense)', 'dhāraṇa-saṃyuktam': 'connected with sustaining/upholding

• conducive to preservation (especially of life)', 'saḥ': 'that', 'niścayaḥ': 'certainty

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyudeva (the Wind-god)
• prajāḥ (the people/creatures)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma is defined by its function of ‘upholding’—it sustains society and living beings. Actions and principles that preserve and support life are affirmed as dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva speaks as an authority figure, offering a dharma-śāstra style definition of dharma to guide ethical judgment amid the pressures of conflict and decision-making.