Shloka 22

Devanagari script

शाखां तस्य समाश्रित्य वसति सम सुखं पुरा । लोमशो नाम मार्जार: पक्षिसंघातखादक:,उसी बरगदकी डालीपर पहले लोमश नामका एक बिलाव भी बड़े सुखसे रहता था। पक्षियोंका समूह ही उसका भोजन था

Transliteration

śākhāṃ tasya samāśritya vasati sma sukhaṃ purā | lomaśo nāma mārjāraḥ pakṣi-saṅghāta-khādakaḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma said: “Having taken refuge on one of its branches, there once lived there in great comfort a cat named Lomaśa, whose food was the flocks of birds.”

Word by Word

शाखाम्branch

तस्यof that (tree)

समाश्रित्यhaving resorted to / taking refuge in

वसतिdwells/lives

समम्equally/steadily

सुखम्happily/comfort

पुराformerly/once

लोमशःLomaśa (hairy; proper name)

नामby name

मार्जारःcat

पक्षि-संघात-खादकःeater of flocks of birds

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Lomaśa (cat)

branch (śākhā)

birds (pakṣi-saṅghāta)

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?

Comfort and apparent security can coexist with harmful conduct; the verse introduces a predator living at ease, prompting reflection on how adharma may hide beneath a peaceful exterior and why vigilance and discernment are ethical necessities.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma begins a fable-like episode: a cat named Lomaśa lives on a tree branch and survives by preying on groups of birds, setting the stage for subsequent events and moral evaluation.