Shloka 10

Devanagari script

गृहारम्भो हि दुःखाय न सुखाय कदाचन । सर्प: परकृतं वेश्म प्रविश्य सुखमेधते,घर बनानेका खटपट करना दुःखका ही कारण है। उससे कभी सुख नहीं मिलता। देखो, साँप दूसरोंके बनाये हुए घर (बिल) में प्रवेश करके सुखसे रहता है। (अतः अनिकेत रहने--घर-द्वारके चक्‍करमें न पड़नेका उपदेश देनेके कारण सर्प गुरु हुआ)

Transliteration

gṛhārambho hi duḥkhāya na sukhāya kadācana | sarpaḥ parakṛtaṃ veśma praviśya sukham edhate ||

Translation

Bhishma said: “The undertaking of building and maintaining a household is truly a cause of suffering, never of lasting happiness. Consider the snake: it enters a dwelling made by another and lives there at ease.” In this ethical illustration, Bhishma commends non-attachment and freedom from the burdens of acquisition, using the snake as a “teacher” of living without possessiveness.

Word by Word

गृहारम्भःthe undertaking of a house (house-building/setting up a household)

हिindeed/for

दुःखायfor sorrow/for suffering

नnot

सुखायfor happiness

कदाचनever/at any time

सर्पःa snake

परकृतम्made by another

वेश्मhouse/dwelling

प्रविश्यhaving entered

सुखम्comfortably/with ease

एधतेthrives/prospers

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

snake

house/dwelling (veśma)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma teaches that attachment to building and owning a home brings ongoing trouble and anxiety, whereas freedom from possessiveness—living lightly without ‘mine-ness’—supports peace. The snake exemplifies using what is available without the burden of acquisition.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction during the Shanti Parva, he uses a brief analogy: a snake comfortably occupies a dwelling made by others. The point is to counsel a life of minimal entanglement and to discourage obsession with house-building and property.