Shloka 121

Devanagari script

न जरा न च दुर्भिक्ष नाधयो व्याधयस्तथा

Transliteration

na jarā na ca durbhikṣa nādhayo vyādhayas tathā

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “There is neither old age, nor famine; nor do afflictions and diseases arise there in that manner.”

Word by Word

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• जरा: old age/decay
• जरा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: जरा
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• न: nor/not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

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

• दुर्भिक्षम्: famine/scarcity
• दुर्भिक्षम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुर्भिक्ष
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• न: nor/not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• आधयः: mental afflictions/anxieties
• आधयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: आधि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• व्याधयः: diseases/illnesses
• व्याधयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्याधि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• तथा: likewise/also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma highlights the marks of a well-ordered, dharma-governed realm: when righteousness prevails, social and natural conditions are described as free from the great scourges—senescence, famine, and widespread affliction—signifying collective welfare as a fruit of dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and statecraft. Here he is describing an ideal condition (often of a righteous age or well-ruled kingdom) where common calamities like famine and disease do not trouble people.