Shloka 99

Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment

Parāśara’s Instruction

Devanagari script

सहस्राध्मातघण्टाय घण्टामालाप्रियाय च । प्राणघण्टाय गन्धाय नम: कलकलाय च

Transliteration

sahasrādhmātaghaṇṭāya ghaṇṭāmālāpriyāya ca | prāṇaghaṇṭāya gandhāya namaḥ kalakalāya ca ||

Translation

Bhīṣma said: Salutations to the One whose bell resounds as if blown a thousand times; to the One who delights in garlands of bells; to the One who is the very life-bell, the vital inner resonance; to the fragrant Presence; and salutations to the One whose sound is the gentle, rippling “kalakala”.

Word by Word

• सहस्राध्मातघण्टाय: to the (one) having a bell blown a thousand times / to the thousand-blown bell
• सहस्राध्मातघण्टाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहस्राध्मातघण्टा
• Form: Feminine, Dative, Singular

• घण्टामालाप्रियाय: to (her) who is fond of a garland of bells
• घण्टामालाप्रियाय: Sampradana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घण्टामालाप्रिया
• Form: Feminine, Dative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• प्राणघण्टाय: to the life-bell / vital bell
• प्राणघण्टाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राणघण्टा
• Form: Feminine, Dative, Singular

• गन्धाय: to fragrance
• गन्धाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: गन्ध
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• नमः: salutation
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नमस्

• कलकलाय: to the tinkling/clamorous sound
• कलकलाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कलकल
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• ghaṇṭā (bell)
• ghaṇṭāmālā (garland of bells)
• prāṇa (life-breath)
• gandha (fragrance)
• kalakala (tinkling/murmur sound)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches devotional recollection through auspicious attributes—especially sacred sound (bells, tinkling resonance) and fragrance—suggesting that steady attention to such divine markers refines the mind and supports dharmic clarity.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction-oriented setting, Bhīṣma speaks in a hymn-like mode, offering a sequence of salutations that praise the divine through evocative epithets centered on bell-sound and fragrance.