Shloka 1

Daśa-Karmapatha: Restraints of Body, Speech, and Mind (दश कर्मपथ)

Devanagari script

(दाक्षिणात्य अधिक पाठके २६ श्लोक मिलाकर कुल ८० श्लोक हैं) ऑपनआक्रात बा अर: 2 त्रयोदशो< ध्याय: शरीर

Transliteration

Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: kiṃ kartavyaṃ manuṣyeṇa lokayātrāhitārthinā? kathaṃ vai lokayātrāṃ tu kiṃśīlaḥ samācaret?

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O Grandsire, what should a person do who seeks the welfare of worldly life and its proper continuance? How, indeed, should one conduct one’s life in the world—what kind of character should one cultivate, and by what manner of conduct should one live?”

Word by Word

• युधिष्ठिरः: Yudhiṣṭhira
• युधिष्ठिरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: युधिष्ठिर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• उवाच: said
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Perfect, Third, Singular

• किम्: what
• किम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: किम्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• कर्तव्यम्: to be done; duty
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कर्तव्य
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• मनुष्येण: by a man; by a human
• मनुष्येण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मनुष्य
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• लोकयात्रा: worldly life; conduct in society
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोकयात्रा
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• हितार्थिना: desiring welfare/benefit
• हितार्थिना: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हितार्थिन्
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• कथम्: how
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथम्

• वै: indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै

• लोकयात्राम्: worldly life; social living
• लोकयात्राम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोकयात्रा
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• तु: but; and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• किम्: what
• किम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: किम्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• शीलः: of what character; having what disposition
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शील
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• समाचरेत्: should practice; should conduct oneself
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + आ + चर्
• Form: Optative, Third, Singular

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Bhīṣma (implied by address ‘pitāmaha’/Grandsire)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames an ethical inquiry: a person who wants to sustain worldly life rightly should ask what duties to perform and what character to cultivate—placing conduct (ācāra) and disposition (śīla) at the center of dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira, seeking guidance after the war, addresses Bhīṣma as ‘Grandsire’ and asks for instruction on proper worldly conduct—how to live so that one’s life and society are maintained in a beneficial way.