Shloka 8

धर्मसूक्ष्मे त्यागप्रधान्यविचारः

Subtle Dharma and the Primacy of Renunciation

Devanagari script

युद्धशास्त्रविदेव त्वं न वृद्धा: सेवितास्त्वया । संक्षिप्तविस्तरविदां न तेषां वेत्सि निश्चयम्‌,तुम युद्धशास्त्रके ही विद्वान्‌ हो, तुमने कभी वृद्ध पुरुषोंका सेवन नहीं किया है, अतः संक्षेप और विस्तारके साथ धर्मको जाननेवाले उन महापुरुषोंका क्या सिद्धान्त है, इसका तुम्हें पता नहीं है

Transliteration

yuddhaśāstravideva tvaṃ na vṛddhāḥ sevitāstvayā | saṃkṣiptavistaravidāṃ na teṣāṃ vetsi niścayam ||

Translation

Du magst in der Kriegskunde bewandert sein, doch du hast den Ältesten nicht gedient. Darum kennst du nicht den feststehenden Schluss jener großen Männer, die das Dharma sowohl in knappen Grundsätzen als auch in ausführlicher Anwendung verstehen.

Word by Word

युद्धशास्त्रविद्knower of the science of warfare

एवindeed/only

त्वम्you

नnot

वृद्धाःelders/old men

सेविताःserved/attended

अस्तिis/are (exists)

त्वयाby you

संक्षिप्तविस्तरविदाम्of those who know the concise and the detailed (teachings)

नnot

तेषाम्of them

वेत्सिyou know

निश्चयम्decision/settled doctrine

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

elders (vṛddhāḥ)

knowers of dharma (saṃkṣipta-vistara-vidāḥ)

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Technical expertise (here, knowledge of warfare) is insufficient for moral clarity; one must learn dharma through respectful service to elders and through those who grasp both general principles and their nuanced application.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira rebukes or corrects an interlocutor by contrasting mere war-learning with the deeper authority that comes from serving elders, implying that the speaker lacks access to the established dharmic conclusion upheld by wise tradition-bearers.