Shloka 7

दमप्रशंसा — Praise of Self-Restraint

Dama

Devanagari script

तृष्णाभि भूतस्तैर्बद्धस्तानेवाभिपरिप्लवन्‌ । संसारतन्त्रवाहिन्यस्तत्र बुद्धयेत योषित:,तृष्णासे अभिभूत तथा काम, क्रोध आदि दोषोंसे बद्ध होकर उनन्‍्हींका अनुसरण करता हुआ मनुष्य (महान्‌ दुःख उठाता रहता है। यदि उनसे छूटनेकी इच्छा हो तो) स्त्रियोंको संसाररूपी वस्त्रको बुननेवाली तन्तुवाहिनी समझे और उनसे दूर रहे

Transliteration

tṛṣṇābhibhūtas tair baddhas tān evābhipariplavan | saṃsāra-tantra-vāhinyas tatra buddhyeta yoṣitaḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma sprach: Von Begierde überwältigt und durch eben diese Fehler gebunden, läuft der Mensch ihnen immer wieder nach und leidet darum schwer. Will er frei werden, soll er die Frauen als Trägerinnen der Fäden erkennen, die das Gewebe des weltlichen Daseins weben, und sich daher von ihnen fernhalten.

Word by Word

• {'tṛṣṇā': 'craving, thirst (for sense-objects)', 'abhibhūta': 'overpowered, dominated', 'baddha': 'bound, fettered', 'tān eva': 'those very (faults/impulses) alone', 'abhipariplavan': 'circling after, pursuing repeatedly, running about after', 'saṃsāra': 'cycle of worldly existence

• transmigration', 'tantra': 'warp/loom-system

• here: the woven fabric/structure', 'vāhinī': 'carrier, bearer

• that which conveys/threads along', 'yoṣit': 'woman', 'buddhyeta': 'should understand/consider (optative of √budh)', 'dūraṃ rahet': 'should stay away (sense supplied by the prose gloss)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• women (yoṣitaḥ)
• saṃsāra (worldly existence)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Craving (tṛṣṇā) and the associated inner faults bind a person and keep him revolving in suffering; liberation requires clear understanding of the forces that intensify attachment and deliberate restraint (saṃyama), expressed here as distancing oneself from stimuli that entangle the mind.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhishma advises the listener about the mechanics of bondage: a person dominated by desire keeps pursuing the same impulses; to seek release, he should view women as powerful conduits of worldly entanglement and practice detachment.