Shloka 333

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

Devanagari script

आत्मयज्ञो भविष्यामि न मां तारयति प्रजा । पिताजी! मैं आत्मासे अपने आपमें ही उत्पन्न हुआ हूँ। अपने आपमें ही स्थित हूँ। मेरे कोई संतान नहीं है। मैं आत्मयज्ञका ही यजमान होऊँगा। मुझे संतान नहीं तार सकती है

Transliteration

ātmayajño bhaviṣyāmi na māṃ tārayati prajā |

Translation

Bhishma sprach: „Ich werde der Opferherr im Opfer des Selbst (Ātma-yajña) sein; Nachkommenschaft kann mich nicht erlösen. Vater! Aus dem Selbst bin ich hervorgegangen, im Selbst allein bin ich gegründet, und ich habe keine Kinder. Darum werde ich der Yajamāna des Ātma-yajña sein; Kinder können mich nicht zur Befreiung tragen.“

Word by Word

आत्मयज्ञःself-sacrifice (sacrifice to/with oneself)

भविष्यामिI shall be / I will become

नnot

माम्me

तारयतिsaves / delivers

प्रजाoffspring / progeny

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

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?

Liberation is not guaranteed by external supports such as progeny or social continuity; one must undertake an inner discipline—‘ātma-yajña’—grounded in self-knowledge and renunciation, making the Self both the altar and the offering.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhīṣma emphasizes to his listener that he will rely on an inward, self-centered spiritual practice rather than on having children or lineage as a means of deliverance.