Shloka 9

मातापितृगुरुपूजा-प्रशंसा

Praise of Venerating Mother, Father, and Teacher

Devanagari script

सम्यगेतेषु वर्तस्व त्रिषु लोकेषु भारत

Transliteration

samyag eteṣu vartasva triṣu lokeṣu bhārata

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “Conduct yourself rightly in these matters, O Bhārata, so that your life may stand in harmony with the three worlds.”

Word by Word

• सम्यक्: properly, rightly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सम्यक्

• एतेषु: in these (matters/places)
• एतेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद्
• Form: masculine/neuter, locative, plural

• वर्तस्व: conduct yourself / behave
• Type: Verb
• Root: वृत् (वर्तते)
• Form: loṭ (imperative), ātmanepada, 2nd, singular

• त्रिषु: in the three
• त्रिषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective (numeral)
• Root: त्रि
• Form: masculine/neuter, locative, plural

• लोकेषु: worlds
• लोकेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोक
• Form: masculine, locative, plural

• भारत: O Bharata (descendant of Bharata)
• भारत: Sampradana
• Type: Noun (proper name/vocative)
• Root: भारत
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Bhārata (address to Yudhiṣṭhira)
• three worlds (trailokya)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma urges steadfast right conduct—living in accordance with dharma—so that one’s actions remain acceptable and beneficial across all spheres of life, symbolically expressed as the “three worlds.”

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and governance after the war. This line functions as a direct exhortation: to practice correctly what has been taught and to embody it consistently.