Shloka 26

Devanagari script

नामृतेनामृतं पीतं वत्सपीता न वत्सला | इमॉल्लोकान्‌ भरिष्यन्ति हविषा प्रस्नरवेण च

Transliteration

nāmṛtenāmṛtaṃ pītaṃ vatsapītā na vatsalā | imāṁl lokān bhariṣyanti haviṣā prasnaraveṇa ca ||

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “Without the true ‘nectar’ of right conduct, what is drunk is no nectar at all; and a cow that lets her milk be taken by the calf is not therefore truly affectionate. It is by sacrificial oblations (havis) and by the proper sacred utterance—the ritual call and chant—that these worlds are sustained.”

Word by Word

नnot

अमृतेin/with respect to nectar; in immortality

नामृतम्nectar (immortality)

पीतम्drunk

वत्सपीताhaving been drunk by the calf (i.e., whose milk was drunk by the calf)

नnot

वत्सलाaffectionate to the calf; loving

इमान्these

लोकान्worlds

भरिष्यन्तिthey will support/bear

हविषाwith oblation

प्रस्नरवेणwith (the) sound/cry called prasnarava

चand

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

loka (the worlds)

havis (sacrificial oblation)

vatsa (calf)

cow (implied by vatsapītā/vatsalā)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma distinguishes mere appearance from genuine substance: something is not truly ‘amṛta’ just because it is called or consumed as such, and affection is not proved by a single outward act. The stability of the worlds is linked to dharmic order expressed through yajña—offerings (havis) and their proper sacred recitation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma continues instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he uses compact analogies (amṛta and the cow-calf image) to emphasize discernment and then points to the sustaining role of ritual duty—oblations and the accompanying sacred utterance.