Shloka 29

Kṣemadarśa–Kālakavṛkṣīya Saṃvāda: Counsel on Impermanence, Non-attachment, and Composure in Dispossession

Devanagari script

यथालब्धोपपन्नार्थस्तथा कौसल्य रंस्यसे । कच्चिच्छुद्धस्वभावेन श्रिया हीनो न शोचसि

Transliteration

yathālabdhopapannārthas tathā kauśalya raṁsyase | kaccic chuddhasvabhāvena śriyā hīno na śocasi, kosalanareśa |

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “O Kauśalya, will you be able to live with the same contentment as before, taking delight in whatever comes to you by fate and circumstance? O king of Kosala, now that you are deprived of royal fortune, do you remain free from grief, maintaining a pure and steady disposition?”

Word by Word

• यथा: as, just as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• अलब्ध: obtained, gotten
• अलब्ध: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अ-लब्ध (√लभ्)
• Form: Masculine, nominative, singular

• उपपन्न: befitting, appropriate, available
• उपपन्न: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उपपन्न (√पद्/√पद्-उपपद्)
• Form: Masculine, nominative, singular

• अर्थः: means, resources, object (of enjoyment)
• अर्थः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अर्थ
• Form: Masculine, nominative, singular

• तथा: so, in that manner
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• कौसल्य: O son of Kausalyā (O Kosala king)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कौसल्य
• Form: Masculine, vocative, singular

• रंस्यसे: you will delight / enjoy
• Type: Verb
• Root: √रम्
• Form: Future, 2nd person, singular, Ātmanepada

• कच्चित्: whether indeed? (interrogative particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कच्चित्

• शुद्ध: pure
• शुद्ध: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शुद्ध
• Form: Masculine, instrumental, singular

• स्वभावेन: by (your) nature/disposition
• स्वभावेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वभाव
• Form: Masculine, instrumental, singular

• श्रिया: by fortune/royal prosperity
• श्रिया: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्री
• Form: Feminine, instrumental, singular

• हीनः: deprived (of), bereft
• हीनः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हीन
• Form: Masculine, nominative, singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• शोचसि: you grieve
• Type: Verb
• Root: √शुच्
• Form: Present, 2nd person, singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Kauśalya (epithet/person addressed)
• Kosala (kingdom)
• Kosalanareśa (king of Kosala)
• Śrī/Lakṣmī (royal fortune, prosperity)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse commends yathā-lābha-santoṣa—contentment with what comes unbidden—and tests inner purity by asking whether one can remain free from grief even when prosperity and royal status are lost.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs and examines a ruler’s mental steadiness: he asks the king of Kosala whether, after losing royal fortune, he can still live joyfully with whatever circumstances arise, without sorrow.