Shloka 14

Devanagari script

भरतवंशी नरेश! पार्थ! इस प्रकार विवेककी तुलापर रखकर जब देखा गया तो गृहस्थ-आश्रम ही महत्त्वपूर्ण सिद्ध हुआ; क्योंकि वहाँ भोग और स्वर्ग दोनों सुलभ थे। तबसे उन्होंने निश्चय किया कि “यही मुनियोंका मार्ग है और यही लोकवेत्ताओंकी गति है! ।। इति य: कुरुते भावं स त्यागी भरतर्षभ । न य: परित्यज्य गृहान्‌ वनमेति विमूढवत्‌,भरतश्रेष्ठ) जो ऐसा भाव रखता है, वही त्यागी है। जो मूर्खकी तरह घर छोड़कर वनमें चला जाता है, वह त्यागी नहीं है

Transliteration

iti yaḥ kurute bhāvaṃ sa tyāgī bharatarṣabha | na yaḥ parityajya gṛhān vanam eti vimūḍhavat ||

Translation

Nakula said: “O bull among the Bharatas, true renunciation lies in one’s inner resolve and discernment. Whoever cultivates non-possessiveness and lives by duty is the real renouncer. But one who, like a deluded man, merely leaves his home and goes to the forest is not thereby a renouncer.”

Word by Word

इतिthus

यःwho

कुरुतेdoes/makes/assumes

भावम्attitude/disposition

सःhe

त्यागीrenunciant

भरतर्षभO bull among the Bharatas

नnot

यःwho

परित्यज्यhaving abandoned

गृहान्homes/household

वनम्forest

एतिgoes

विमूढवत्like a deluded person

भरतश्रेष्ठO best of the Bharatas

Speaker

नकुल उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nakula

Bharatarṣabha (addressed person, typically Yudhiṣṭhira)

Bharatas

home/household (gṛha)

forest (vana)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Renunciation is primarily an inner attitude (bhāva)—non-attachment and right intention—rather than a mere external act like leaving one’s home for the forest.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s ethical discourse, Nakula addresses a Bharata elder (commonly understood as Yudhiṣṭhira) and argues that genuine tyāga is defined by discernment and mental resolve, criticizing superficial ascetic flight as delusion.