Shloka 14

Devanagari script

ये नृशंसा दुरात्मान: प्राणिप्राणहरा नरा: । उद्बवेजनीया भूतानां व्याला इव भवन्ति ते,जो मनुष्य क्रूर, दुरात्मा तथा दूसरे प्राणियोंके प्राणोंका अपहरण करनेवाले होते हैं, उन्हें सर्पोंकि समान सभी जीवोंकी ओरसे उद्घेग प्राप्त होता है

Transliteration

ye nṛśaṃsā durātmānaḥ prāṇiprāṇaharā narāḥ | udvejanīyā bhūtānāṃ vyālā iva bhavanti te ||

Translation

Bhīṣma said: Those men who are cruel and wicked at heart, who take away the lives of living beings, become objects of fear and revulsion to all creatures—like venomous serpents. The teaching is that violence born of cruelty isolates a person from the moral community: such a life makes one universally dreaded rather than respected.

Word by Word

येwho (those who)

नृशंसाःcruel, pitiless

दुरात्मानःevil-souled, wicked

प्राणि-प्राण-हराःlife-stealers of living beings

नराःmen, persons

उद्वेजनीयाःto be shunned/feared; causing agitation

भूतानाम्of creatures, of beings

व्यालाःserpents (wild beasts)

इवlike, as if

भवन्तिbecome/are

तेthey (those)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

narāḥ (men)

prāṇinaḥ/bhūtāni (living beings/creatures)

vyālāḥ (serpents/dangerous creatures)

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?

Cruelty and the taking of life make a person universally feared and shunned; ethical conduct (especially restraint from harming beings) is essential for social trust and moral standing.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and right conduct. Here he characterizes violent, cruel men as comparable to serpents—creatures that all beings instinctively avoid—highlighting the social and moral consequences of such behavior.