Shloka 97

Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)

Devanagari script

यथा जतु च काष्ठं च पांसवश्नोदबिन्दव: । संश्लिष्टानि तथा राजन्‌ प्राणिनामिह सम्भव:

Transliteration

yathā jatu ca kāṣṭhaṃ ca pāṃsavaś nodabindavaḥ | saṃśliṣṭāni tathā rājan prāṇinām iha sambhavaḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “Just as lac and wood, dust and drops of water come together by contact, so too, O king, the coming-to-be of living creatures in this world is a conjunction—an arising from the meeting of conditions rather than an isolated, independent origination.”

Word by Word

• यथा: just as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• जतु: lac/resin
• जतु: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: जतु
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

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

• काष्ठम्: wood
• काष्ठम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: काष्ठ
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

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

• पांसवः: dust-particles
• पांसवः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पांसु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• अश्नु: attain/come into contact with
• Type: Verb
• Root: अश्
• Form: Present (Lat), 3rd, Plural

• उदबिन्दवः: drops of water
• उदबिन्दवः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: उदबिन्दु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• संश्लिष्टानि: closely joined/adhere together
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संश्लिष्ट
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• तथा: so, in the same way
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• प्राणिनाम्: of living beings
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राणिन्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• इह: here, in this world
• इह: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इह

• सम्भवः: origin/coming into being
• सम्भवः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सम्भव
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• the king (Yudhiṣṭhira, implied)
• jatu (lac)
• kāṣṭha (wood)
• pāṃsu (dust)
• udabindu (water-drops)
• prāṇin (living beings)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That the arising of living beings is due to conjunction and contact of conditions—like substances that adhere when they meet—highlighting interdependence rather than absolute, independent origination.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva discourse, Bhīṣma instructs the king (Yudhiṣṭhira) using everyday analogies (lac with wood, dust with water-drops) to explain how beings come into existence through the meeting of factors.