Shloka 2

अव्यक्त-मानस-सृष्टिवादः

Doctrine of Creation from the Unmanifest ‘Mānasa’

Devanagari script

भीष्म उवाच सर्वत्र विहितो धर्म: स्वर्ग्य: सत्यफलं तप: । बहुद्वारस्य धर्मस्य नेहास्ति विफला क्रिया,भीष्मजी बोले--युधिष्छिर! वेदोंमें सर्वत्र सभी आश्रमोंके लिये स्वर्गसाधक यथार्थ फलकी प्राप्ति करानेवाली तपस्याका उल्लेख है। धर्मके बहुत-से द्वार हैं। संसारमें कोई ऐसी क्रिया नहीं है, जिसका कोई फल न हो

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca sarvatra vihito dharmaḥ svargyaḥ satyaphalaṃ tapaḥ | bahudvārasya dharmasya nehāsti viphalā kriyā ||

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: „O Yudhiṣṭhira, in den Veden ist der Dharma überall für alle Āśramas vorgeschrieben—ein Dharma, der zum Himmel führt; und die Askese (tapas) wird als wahrhaft fruchtbringend, niemals vergeblich, verkündet. Die Zugänge zum Dharma sind viele, und in dieser Welt gibt es keine Handlung ohne Folge.“

Word by Word

• {'bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', 'sarvatra': 'everywhere

• in all contexts', 'vihitaḥ': 'enjoined

• prescribed (by scripture)', 'dharmaḥ': 'righteous duty

• right conduct', 'svargyaḥ': 'leading to heaven

• conducive to heavenly merit', 'satyaphalam': 'having true/real fruit

• unfailingly fruitful', 'tapaḥ': 'austerity

• disciplined spiritual effort', 'bahudvārasya': 'having many doors/paths

• accessible by many approaches', 'dharma(sya)': 'of dharma', 'na iha asti': 'there is not here/in this world', 'viphalā': 'fruitless

• without result', 'kriyā': 'act

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Yudhishthira
• Vedas
• Svarga (heaven)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma is widely prescribed in the Vedas for all modes of life, and disciplined effort (tapas) reliably bears fruit; moreover, dharma can be approached through many legitimate paths, and every action inevitably produces some result.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva dialogue, Bhishma instructs King Yudhishthira on dharma after the war, emphasizing scriptural grounding, the efficacy of austerity, and the inevitability of karmic consequences.