Shloka 32

अहिंसा-प्रधान धर्मविचारः

Ahiṃsā as the Superior Dharma: Practical and Scriptural Reasoning

Devanagari script

सैवमुक्ता महाराज कृताज्जलिरुवाच ह । पुनरेव महात्मानं नेति देवेशमव्ययम्‌

Transliteration

saivam uktā mahārāja kṛtāñjalir uvāca ha | punar eva mahātmānaṃ neti deveśam avyayam ||

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: „O König, als sie so angesprochen worden war, sprach der Tod, die Hände ehrfürchtig gefaltet, erneut zu jenem unvergänglichen, großherzigen Herrn der Götter (Brahmā): ‚Nein, mein Herr — ich werde die Vernichtung der Lebewesen nicht vollziehen.‘“

Word by Word

• सा: she (that woman)
• सा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• एवम्: thus
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एवम्

• उक्ता: having been spoken to / addressed
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: क्त, स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• महाराज: O great king
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

• कृत-अञ्जलिः: with hands joined (in reverence)
• कृत-अञ्जलिः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृत (कृ-धातु, क्त) + अञ्जलि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• उवाच: said
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परोक्षभूत), प्रथम, एकवचन

• ह: indeed / (emphatic particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ह

• पुनः: again
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः

• एव: indeed / just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• महात्मानम्: the great-souled one
• महात्मानम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: महात्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• नेति: "no"—thus (quotative)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न + इति

• देवेशम्: the lord of the gods
• देवेशम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: देवेश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• अव्ययम्: imperishable
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अव्यय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

Speaker

पितामह उवाच

Characters & Entities

• पितामह (Bhīṣma)
• महाराज (Yudhiṣṭhira, implied addressee)
• मृत्यु (Mṛtyu, Death personified; from the Hindi gloss)
• ब्रह्मा (Brahmā; from the Hindi gloss)
• देवेश (Lord of the gods; epithet applied to Brahmā in this context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even forces associated with punishment or ending (like Death) are portrayed as bound by dharma and moral hesitation; the text highlights compassion and restraint as virtues that must be weighed alongside cosmic duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Death, personified as a reverent supplicant, addresses the imperishable Lord of the gods (identified in the gloss as Brahmā) and refuses—at least momentarily—to undertake the destruction of living beings, indicating a tension between ordained function and ethical reluctance.