Shloka 46

Tapas, Tīrtha, and Moral Rehabilitation (Śānti-parva 148)

Devanagari script

दत्त: स्वमांसं दहता कपोतेन महात्मना । “अच्छे-अच्छे कर्मोंको छोड़कर मैंने पक्षियोंको मारने और फँसानेका धंधा अपना लिया है। मुझ क्रूर और कुकर्मीको महात्मा कबूतरने अपने शरीरकी आहुति दे अपना मांस अर्पित किया है। इसमें संदेह नहीं कि इस अपूर्व त्यागके द्वारा उसने मुझे धिक्कारते हुए धर्माचरण करनेका आदेश दिया है

Transliteration

dattaḥ svamāṁsaṁ dahatā kapotena mahātmanā |

Translation

Bhishma said: “The great-souled pigeon, burning in the fire, offered its own flesh. Abandoning worthy occupations, I had taken up the cruel trade of killing and trapping birds. To me—violent and sinful—the noble pigeon has made an oblation of its body and presented its flesh. There is no doubt: by this unprecedented sacrifice it has, as though reproaching me, commanded me to practice dharma.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'dattaḥ', 'definition': 'given, offered'}, {'term': 'sva-māṁsam', 'definition': 'one’s own flesh'}, {'term': 'dahatā', 'definition': 'while burning

• being scorched (in fire)'}, {'term': 'kapotena', 'definition': 'by the pigeon'}, {'term': 'mahātmanā', 'definition': 'by the great-souled/noble one'}, {'term': 'āhuti', 'definition': 'oblation, sacrificial offering'}, {'term': 'dharma-ācaraṇa', 'definition': 'practice/observance of dharma (righteous conduct)'}, {'term': 'dhikkāra', 'definition': 'censure, reproach (as moral condemnation)'}, {'term': 'kṛūra', 'definition': 'cruel, violent'}, {'term': 'kukarmī', 'definition': 'evil-doer

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• pigeon (kapota)
• fire (implied by dahatā)
• flesh (māṁsa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even a small creature can embody supreme dharma: self-sacrifice and compassion can shame and reform a cruel person, turning him back toward righteous conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

A pigeon, burning in a fire, offers its own flesh as an oblation. The speaker reflects that he had taken up the cruel livelihood of trapping and killing birds, and he interprets the pigeon’s extraordinary act as a reproach and a moral command to follow dharma.