Shloka 18

Devanagari script

बुद्धिश्रेष्ठानि कर्माणि बाहुमध्यानि भारत । तानि जड्घाजघन्यानि भारप्रत्यवराणि च,भारत! बुद्धिबलसे किये गये कार्य श्रेष्ठ हैं। बाहुबलसे किये जानेवाले कार्य मध्यम हैं। जाँघ अर्थात्‌ पैरके बलसे किये गये कार्य जघन्य (अधम कोटिके) हैं तथा मस्तकसे भार ढोनेका कार्य सबसे निम्न श्रेणीका है

Transliteration

buddhiśreṣṭhāni karmāṇi bāhumadhyāni bhārata | tāni jaḍghājaghanyāni bhārapratyavarāṇi ca ||

Translation

Uḍḍa said: “O Bhārata, actions accomplished through intelligence are the highest. Those accomplished through the strength of the arms are of a middle grade. Those done by the power of the thighs (i.e., the legs) are base; and the carrying of burdens upon the head is the lowest of all.”

Word by Word

बुद्धि-श्रेष्ठानिbest by intellect (intellect-superior)

कर्माणिactions, works

बाहु-मध्यानिmiddling by arm-strength (arm-medium)

भारतO Bhārata

तानिthose (actions)

जङ्घा-जघन्यानिlowest by the legs (leg-base)

भार-प्रत्यवराणिmost inferior as burden-bearing (burden-inferior)

चand

Speaker

उड्ड उवाच

Characters & Entities

उ

उड्ड (Uḍḍa)

भ

भारत (Bhārata)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse ranks human effort by the faculty employed: intellect-led action is praised as highest, mere physical force as middling, and increasingly menial bodily exertion as lower—highlighting an ethical preference for discernment, planning, and wise agency over brute or servile labor.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s didactic setting, the speaker Uḍḍa delivers a moral classification of actions to the addressed ‘Bhārata,’ using a graded comparison (intellect, arms, legs, head-burden) to instruct on values and social-ethical evaluation of work.