Shloka 7

अध्याय १२८: शिव–उमा संवादः — तिलोत्तमा, श्मशान-मेध्यता, तथा चातुर्वर्ण्य-धर्मः

Chapter 128: Śiva–Umā Dialogue—Tilottamā, the Ritual Valence of the Śmaśāna, and the Fourfold Duty-Code

Devanagari script

रक्षस्तु वाचं सम्पूज्य प्रश्न॑ पप्रच्छ तं द्विजम्‌ मोक्ष्यसे ब्रूहि मे प्रश्न केनास्मि हरिण: कृश:

Transliteration

rakṣas tu vācaṃ sampūjya praśnaṃ papraccha taṃ dvijam | mokṣyase brūhi me praśnaṃ kenāsmi hariṇaḥ kṛśaḥ pāṇḍuś ca ||

Translation

Dijo Bhishma: El rākṣasa, tras honrar con respeto las apacibles palabras del brāhmaṇa, le planteó su pregunta: «Si respondes a mi pregunta, quedarás libre. Dime: ¿por qué causa me he vuelto extremadamente enjuto, y por qué me he tornado pálido, blanquecino?»

Word by Word

• {'rakṣas': 'a rākṣasa

• a man-eating demon/ogre', 'tu': 'but

• then', 'vācam': 'speech

• words', 'sampūjya': 'having honored

• having shown respect', 'praśnam': 'a question', 'papraccha': 'asked (perfect of √prach)', 'tam': 'him', 'dvijam': 'a twice-born

• brāhmaṇa (lit. ‘twice-born’)', 'mokṣyase': 'you will be released

• you will be set free', 'brūhi': 'tell

• speak (imperative of √brū)', 'me': 'to me

• my', 'kena': 'by what? by which cause/instrument?', 'asmi': 'I am', 'hariṇaḥ': 'pale/whitish

• also ‘deer-like’ depending on context (here: pallor)', 'kṛśaḥ': 'thin

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• rākṣasa
• dvija (brāhmaṇa)