Shloka 6

कालनियमः शोकशमनं च

Kāla as Regulator; Pacification of Grief

Devanagari script

ज्ञाननिष्ठेषु कार्याणि प्रतिष्ठाप्पानि पाण्डव । वैखानसानां वचन यथा नो विदितं प्रभो,'पाण्डुनन्दन! प्रभो! वानप्रस्थोंक वचनको जैसा हमने समझा है, उसके अनुसार ज्ञाननिष्ठ महात्माओंको ही राज्यके सारे कार्य सौंपने चाहिये

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca |

Jñānaniṣṭheṣu kāryāṇi pratiṣṭhāpyāni Pāṇḍava |

Vaikhānasānāṁ vacanaṁ yathā no viditaṁ prabho ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „O Pāṇḍava, die Angelegenheiten der Herrschaft sollen denen anvertraut werden, die fest im wahren Wissen gegründet sind. So verstehen wir, o Herr, die Weisung der Vaikhānasas.“

Word by Word

ज्ञाननिष्ठेषुin/among those devoted to knowledge

कार्याणिtasks; duties; affairs

प्रतिष्ठाप्यानिto be entrusted/established (to be assigned)

पाण्डवO Pandava

वैखानसानाम्of the Vaikhanasas (a Vedic ascetic order)

वचनम्statement; instruction

यथाas; according to how

नःto us / of us

विदितम्known; understood

प्रभोO lord

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Pāṇḍava (Yudhiṣṭhira)

Vaikhānasas

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?

State responsibilities should be placed in the hands of people who are steadfast in spiritual and ethical knowledge, implying that inner discipline and discernment are prerequisites for just administration.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and rulership, Vaiśampāyana reports a normative guideline—attributed to the Vaikhānasa authorities—about whom a king should trust with the kingdom’s affairs: those established in jñāna.