Shloka 190

Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)

Devanagari script

न वर्गस्था ब्रवीम्येतत्‌ स्वपक्षपरपक्षयो: । मुक्तो व्यायच्छते यश्व शान्तौ यश्च न शाम्याति,मैं स्वपक्ष और परपक्षमेंसे अपने पक्षमें स्थित हो पक्षपातपूर्वक यह बात नहीं कह रही हूँ, आपके हितको दृष्टिमें रखकर बोलती हूँ; क्योंकि जो वाणीका व्यायाम नहीं करता और जो शान्त परब्रह्ममें निमग्न रहता है, वही मुक्त है

Transliteration

na vargasthā bravīmy etat svapakṣaparapakṣayoḥ | mukto vyāyacchate yaś ca śāntau yaś ca na śāmyati |

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: „Ich sage dies nicht als einer, der in einer Partei steht—weder auf der eigenen noch auf der gegnerischen Seite. Ich spreche ohne Parteilichkeit, dein Wohl im Blick. Denn wahrhaft befreit ist, wer sich nicht in bloßer Wortkunst abmüht und in Frieden verweilt; wer nicht zur Ruhe gekommen ist, ist nicht frei.“

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'na', 'definition': 'not'}, {'term': 'vargasthā', 'definition': 'standing in a party/faction

• aligned with a group'}, {'term': 'bravīmi', 'definition': 'I say, I speak'}, {'term': 'etat', 'definition': 'this (statement/teaching)'}, {'term': 'svapakṣa', 'definition': 'one’s own side

• one’s party'}, {'term': 'parapakṣa', 'definition': 'the opposing side

• the other party'}, {'term': 'muktaḥ', 'definition': 'liberated

• freed (from bondage)'}, {'term': 'vyāyacchate (vyāyacchati)', 'definition': 'exerts oneself

• engages in excessive effort (here, especially in speech/argument)'}, {'term': 'vāk (implied by context)', 'definition': 'speech

• discourse'}, {'term': 'śānti', 'definition': 'peace

• pacification'}, {'term': 'śāmyati', 'definition': 'becomes calm

Speaker

भीष्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The teaching is to speak without factional bias and to value inner peace over argumentative display: liberation is associated with calm abiding (śānti) and restraint in speech, while agitation and lack of pacification indicate bondage.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma, in the Śānti Parva’s instruction to the listener (traditionally Yudhiṣṭhira), clarifies that his counsel is not partisan (neither for ‘our side’ nor ‘their side’) but offered for the hearer’s welfare, then links true freedom with tranquility and disciplined speech.