Shloka 10

Āpad-dharma and Discernment in Livelihood (आपद्धर्मे विज्ञानबलम्)

Devanagari script

यम उवाच तपःशौचवता नित्यं सत्यधर्मरतेन च | मातापित्रोरहरह: पूजनं कार्यमज्जसा

Transliteration

yama uvāca tapaḥ-śaucavatā nityaṁ satya-dharma-ratena ca | mātā-pitror ahar-ahaḥ pūjanaṁ kāryam ajjasā ||

Translation

Yama sprach: „Der Mensch soll beständig Askese üben und Reinheit wahren und dem Dharma der Wahrhaftigkeit ergeben bleiben. Und während er all dies tut, muss er ohne Zögern täglich Mutter und Vater dienen und sie ehrfürchtig verehren.“

Word by Word

• यमः: Yama
• यमः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: यम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• उवाच: said
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Perfect, 3rd, Singular

• तपः: austerity
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपस्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• शौचवता: by/with one who is pure; by purity
• शौचवता: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शौचवत्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• नित्यम्: always
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नित्य

• सत्य: truth
• Type: Noun
• Root: सत्य
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• धर्म: dharma, righteousness
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• रतेन: by one devoted/engaged
• रतेन: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रत
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• माता: of (one's) mother
• Type: Noun
• Root: मातृ
• Form: Feminine, Genitive, Singular

• पित्रोः: of the two parents (mother and father)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Dual

• अहरहः: day by day, daily
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अहरहः

• पूजनम्: worship, honoring
• पूजनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पूजन
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• कार्यम्: to be done, should be done
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कार्य
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• अज्जसा: straightaway, certainly, without delay
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अज्जस

Speaker

यम उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yama
• mother
• father

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True dharma is not only personal discipline (tapas) and inner–outer purity (śauca) with steadfast truthfulness (satya), but also the concrete daily duty of honoring and serving one’s parents.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on righteous conduct, Yama speaks as an authority on moral law, prescribing a practical code: cultivate austerity, purity, and truth, and alongside these virtues perform daily reverence toward one’s mother and father.