Shloka 41

Devanagari script

इन्द्रियाणि मनो वायु: शोणितं मांसमस्थि च । आनुपूर्व्या विनश्यन्ति स्वं धातुमुपयान्ति च,इन्द्रिय, मन, प्राण, रक्त, मांस और हड्डी--ये सब क्रमशः नष्ट होते और अपने कारणमें मिल जाते हैं

Transliteration

indriyāṇi mano vāyuḥ śoṇitaṁ māṁsam asthi ca | ānupūrvyā vinaśyanti svaṁ dhātum upayānti ca ||

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: „Die Sinne, der Geist, der Lebenshauch (prāṇa), Blut, Fleisch und Knochen—sie alle vergehen der Reihe nach und gehen zuletzt in ihre jeweiligen Grundbestandteile zurück. So erscheint das verkörperte Wesen als ein Gefüge, das sich seiner Natur gemäß auflöst; darum soll man Nicht-Anhaften und rechte Einsicht pflegen, statt sich an das zu klammern, was unweigerlich zerfällt.“

Word by Word

इन्द्रियाणिsense-organs

मनःmind

वायुःwind; vital air

शोणितम्blood

मांसम्flesh

अस्थिbone

चand

आनुपूर्व्याin due order; successively

विनश्यन्तिperish; are destroyed

स्वम्their own

धातुम्constituent; element; source-cause

उपयान्तिgo to; merge into; return to

चand

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

indriyas (senses)

manas (mind)

vāyu/prāṇa (vital wind)

śoṇita (blood)

māṁsa (flesh)

asthi (bone)

dhātu (constituent element)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The body and its functions are composite and impermanent: senses, mind, vital breath, and bodily tissues decay in sequence and return to their material causes (dhātus). Recognizing this supports vairāgya (detachment) and steadiness in dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and liberation-oriented wisdom. Here he emphasizes the inevitable dissolution of embodied components, framing ethical life with insight into mortality and the transient nature of the body.