Shloka 4

Devanagari script

तत्तु शल्यमनिह््त्य कथं शक्ष्यामि जीवितुम्‌ । सर्व मन्युं विनीय त्वमभि मां वद शौनक

Transliteration

tattu śalyam anihṛtya kathaṃ śakṣyāmi jīvitum | sarvaṃ manyuṃ vinīya tvam abhi māṃ vada śaunaka ||

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “But unless that thorn is pulled out, how shall I be able to go on living? Having set aside all anger, O Śaunaka, speak to me and tell me the means of deliverance.”

Word by Word

• {'tat': 'that (matter/thing just mentioned)', 'tu': 'but, however', 'śalyam': 'a thorn

• figuratively, a piercing grief or anxiety lodged in the heart', 'anihṛtya (an-nihṛtya)': 'without removing

• not having extracted', 'katham': 'how?', 'śakṣyāmi': 'shall I be able (to do)?', 'jīvitum': 'to live

• to continue living', 'sarvam': 'entirely

• all', 'manyum': 'anger, wrath

• also inner agitation', 'vinīya': 'having restrained/removed

• having set aside', 'tvam': 'you', 'abhi': 'towards

• to (me)', 'mām': 'me', 'vada': 'speak

• tell', 'śaunaka': 'O Śaunaka (address to the sage)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Śaunaka

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Inner torment must be addressed directly, and guidance should be sought with a mind free from anger; self-restraint (manyu-vinaya) is presented as a prerequisite for receiving and applying liberating counsel.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma, troubled by a piercing fear and anxiety likened to a thorn, tells the sage Śaunaka that he cannot endure without removing it, and requests Śaunaka—after setting aside anger—to instruct him in a means of deliverance.