Shloka 36

Adhyāya 180: Jīva, Śarīra, and the Fire Analogy (भृगु–भरद्वाज संवादः)

Devanagari script

तदिदमनुनिशम्य विप्रपात॑ पृथगभिपतन्नमिहाबुरधर्मनुष्यै: । अनवसितमनन्तदोषपारं नृषु विहरामि विनीतदोषतृष्ण:,“मूर्खलोग इस अजगरवृत्तिको सुनकर इसे पहाड़की चोटीसे गिरनेकी भाँति भयंकर समझते हैं। परंतु उनकी वह मान्यता भिन्न है। मैं इस अजगरवृत्तिको अज्ञानका नाशक और समस्त दोषोंसे रहित मानता हूँ। अतः दोष और तृष्णाका त्याग करके मनुष्योंमें विचरता हूँ'

Transliteration

tad idam anu-niśamya vipra-pātaṃ pṛthag abhipatan namihābur adharma-manuṣyaiḥ | anavasitam ananta-doṣa-pāraṃ nṛṣu viharāmi vinīta-doṣa-tṛṣṇaḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma said: “Hearing of this ‘python-like’ way of life, foolish people—whose understanding of dharma is distorted—shudder at it as though it were a fall from a mountain peak. Yet their judgment is mistaken. I regard this ajagara-vṛtti as a destroyer of ignorance and as free from every fault, with no end and no far shore of defects. Therefore, having subdued both fault-finding and craving, I move among people.”

Word by Word

तत्that

इदम्this

अनुनिशम्यhaving heard/considered attentively

विप्रपातम्a terrible fall (headlong fall)

पृथक्separately, differently

अभिपतन्falling down upon (as if plunging)

नnot

इहhere, in this matter

अबुधाःthe unwise

अधर्ममनुष्यैःby unrighteous men

अनवसितम्not concluded; not settled

अनन्तदोषपारम्having the far shore of endless faults (i.e., an ocean of faults)

नृषुamong men

विहारामिI roam, I move about

विनीतदोषतृष्णःhaving subdued/removed desire for faults (i.e., having abandoned दोष and तृष्णा)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

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?

Bhishma defends ajagara-vṛtti—living without anxious striving and without grasping—as a legitimate dharmic discipline. He teaches that what the ignorant fear as ‘dangerous’ is actually a means to destroy ignorance, provided one abandons craving (tṛṣṇā) and the habit of seeing faults (doṣa) everywhere.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation-oriented conduct, Bhishma explains that many people misunderstand the ‘python-like’ ascetic stance and condemn it. He rejects their judgment and states his own commitment: moving among people while restraining desire and moral blemishes, he upholds this practice as blameless and spiritually clarifying.