Shloka 5

ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana

River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor

Devanagari script

यच्च प्राज्ञो नरस्तात सात्त्विकीं वृत्तिमास्थित:

Transliteration

yacca prājño naras tāta sāttvikīṁ vṛttim āsthitaḥ

Translation

Bhishma sprach: „Und, mein Lieber, was immer ein weiser Mann als sāttvika (sattvische) Lebensführung annimmt und darin verharrt—rein, ausgewogen und auf Klarheit ausgerichtet—eben diese Haltung wird zur Grundlage rechten Lebens und ethischer Standfestigkeit.“

Word by Word

यत्which/that (thing)

चand

प्राज्ञःwise

नरःman/person

तातO dear one / O son (term of address)

सात्त्विकीम्sattvic, pertaining to sattva

वृत्तिम्conduct, mode of life, disposition

आस्थितःhaving adopted/undertaken

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

tāta (addressee, unnamed in this pāda)

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 verse highlights that a wise person deliberately adopts sāttvika vṛtti—pure, balanced, clarity-driven conduct—as the foundation for dharmic living and moral stability.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma continues instructing the listener (addressed as ‘tāta’) on principles of right conduct; here he begins a point about the wise person’s commitment to sāttvika behavior.