Shloka 39

उपदेशदोषप्रसङ्गः (Upadeśa-doṣa-prasaṅgaḥ) — The Risk of Misapplied Counsel

Devanagari script

पितर्युपरते चापि कृतशौचस्तु पार्थिव

Transliteration

pitary uparate cāpi kṛtaśaucastu pārthiva

Translation

Bhishma dijo: «Oh rey, cuando el padre ha partido, primero deben cumplirse los ritos de purificación prescritos; sólo entonces debe el soberano proceder con los deberes que siguen.»

Word by Word

• पितरि: in/when the father
• पितरि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• उपरते: having ceased; departed (dead)
• उपरते: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उप-रम्
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

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

• अपि: also/even
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• कृतशौचः: having performed purification (rites); purified
• कृतशौचः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृत-शौच
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

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

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• pārthiva (the king/addressee)
• father (pitṛ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes dharma around bereavement: after a father’s death, one must observe and complete the prescribed purification (śauca) before resuming other obligations, especially public or royal duties.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is instructing the king on proper conduct and ritual protocol. He frames the rule as guidance for a ruler: personal loss does not erase duty, but duty must be resumed in the correct order—after completing the required rites of purification.