Shloka 27

Mahāvasu’s Fall by Speech-Error and Release through Devotion (अज-विवादः वसोः शापः विमोचनं च)

Devanagari script

न त्वस्य रमते बुद्धिराश्रमेषु नराधिप । त्रिषु गार्हस्थ्यमूलेषु मोक्षधर्मानुदर्शिन:,नरेश्वर! वे मोक्षधर्मपर ही दृष्टि रखते थे; अतः उनकी बुद्धि गार्हस्थ्य आश्रमपर अवलम्बित रहनेवाले तीनों आश्रमोंमें प्रसन्नताका अनुभव नहीं करती थी

Transliteration

na tv asya ramate buddhir āśrameṣu narādhipa | triṣu gārhasthya-mūleṣu mokṣa-dharmānudarśinaḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma sprach: „Doch sein Geist fand keine Freude an den Āśramas, o König—an jenen drei Lebensstufen, die auf dem Hausstand beruhen. Denn sein Blick war auf das Dharma der Befreiung (mokṣa) gerichtet.“

Word by Word

nanot

tubut

asyaof him / his

ramatedelights / takes pleasure

buddhiḥmind / intellect

āśrameṣuin the āśramas (stages of life)

nara-adhipaO king (lord of men)

triṣuin the three

gārhasthya-mūleṣuin those rooted in householdership

mokṣa-dharmānudarśinaḥthose who contemplate/observe the dharmas of liberation

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

narādhipa (the king addressed, i.e., Yudhiṣṭhira)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A mind oriented toward mokṣa (liberation) does not naturally take pleasure in the conventional āśrama pursuits grounded in household life; liberation-focused dharma reshapes what one finds fulfilling.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma, instructing the king, characterizes a certain person’s disposition: because he was devoted to mokṣa-dharma, he felt no satisfaction in the three life-stages dependent on the householder foundation.