Shloka 128

धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)

Devanagari script

यश्चेदं पठते नित्यं यश्चेदं शृणुयान्नर:

Transliteration

yaś cedaṃ paṭhate nityaṃ yaś cedaṃ śṛṇuyān naraḥ

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “Whoever regularly recites this, and whoever, as a man, listens to it…”

Word by Word

• यः: who
• यः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

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

• इदम्: this (text/teaching)
• इदम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• पठते: reads
• Type: Verb
• Root: पठ्
• Form: Present, Indicative, Parasmaipada, Third, Singular

• नित्यम्: always, regularly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नित्य

• यः: who
• यः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

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

• इदम्: this (text/teaching)
• इदम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• शृणुयात्: would hear, should listen to
• Type: Verb
• Root: श्रु
• Form: Present, Optative, Parasmaipada, Third, Singular

• नरः: a man
• नरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the dharmic value of sustained engagement with instruction—both recitation (paṭhana) and attentive listening (śravaṇa)—as the basis for the spiritual/ethical fruits that Bhīṣma is about to state in the following lines.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he begins a phalaśruti-style statement, identifying the person who regularly reads or hears the preceding teaching, preparing to describe the resulting merit and moral benefit.