Shloka 34

वृत्ति-सत्सङ्ग-दान-धर्म

Livelihood, Virtuous Association, and Ethics of Giving

Devanagari script

केचिद्‌ यूपान्‌ समुत्पाट्य बश्रमुर्विकृतानना:

Transliteration

kecid yūpān samutpāṭya baśramurvikṛtānanāḥ

Translation

Bhīṣma said: Some, their faces distorted with rage, tore up the sacrificial posts and, in their frenzy, rushed about—an image of how violence can erupt even in spaces meant for sacred order, when restraint and dharma are abandoned.

Word by Word

• केचित्: some (persons)
• केचित्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: क- (प्रातिपदिक: किम्-शब्द)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• यूपान्: sacrificial posts
• यूपान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: यूप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• समुत्पाट्य: having uprooted / tearing up
• Type: Verb
• Root: उत्√पट् (पट्/पट्-धातु) उपसर्ग: सम्+उत्
• Form: ल्यप् (क्त्वा-अर्थे अव्ययभाव), Parasmaipada (sense)

• बश्रमुर्विकृताननाः: having distorted faces (bizarre-faced); (with unclear first member 'बश्रमुर्व-')
• बश्रमुर्विकृताननाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विकृतानन (प्रातिपदिक); (पूर्वपद: बश्रमुर्व- ?)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• yūpa (sacrificial post)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even sacred institutions and rituals cannot uphold dharma if people lose self-control; when passion and aggression dominate, the very symbols of order (like sacrificial posts) are violated, showing the ethical primacy of restraint over mere external rites.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma describes a scene of upheaval: certain people, with contorted expressions, physically tear up the yūpas (ritual posts), indicating a breakdown of decorum and the eruption of violence in a context associated with sacrifice and religious order.