Shloka 30

Śreyas-nirdeśa (Discerning the Superior Good): Nārada–Gālava Saṃvāda

Devanagari script

सो<हं सत्यमहिसार्थी कामक्रोधबहिष्कृत:

Transliteration

so ’haṃ satyamahiṣārthī kāmakrodhabahiṣkṛtaḥ

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: „Ich bin einer, der das große Heil der Wahrheit sucht, nachdem ich Begierde und Zorn verstoßen habe.“

Word by Word

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• सत्यम्: truth
• सत्यम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सत्य
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• अहिसार्थी: a leader/guide of serpents (snake-chief)
• अहिसार्थी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अहिसार्थिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• कामक्रोधबहिष्कृतः: excluded/kept away from desire and anger
• कामक्रोधबहिष्कृतः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कामक्रोधबहिष्कृत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents an ethical ideal: one should be a seeker of truth and higher good, and for that, desire (kāma) and anger (krodha)—two major inner enemies of dharma—must be expelled through self-discipline.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma speaks in a didactic voice, describing the qualities of a righteous person. Here he characterizes himself (or the dharmic exemplar) as devoted to truth and free from the disruptive forces of desire and anger.