Shloka 8

Śraddhā–Guṇa–Vibhāga Yoga (Faith and the Three Guṇas) — Mahābhārata Book 6, Chapter 39

Devanagari script

इन्द्रियार्थेषु वैराग्यमनहंकार4“5 एव च । जन्ममृत्युजराव्याधिदु:ःखदोषानुदर्शनम्‌

Transliteration

indriyārtheṣu vairāgyam anahaṅkāra eva ca | janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam ||

Translation

Arjuna dijo: El desapego de los objetos de los sentidos y la libertad del egoísmo; y la contemplación clara y constante de los defectos inherentes al sufrimiento—nacimiento, muerte, vejez y enfermedad. Estas disposiciones se presentan como señales del verdadero discernimiento, que aparta la mente del goce fugaz y la orienta hacia lo perdurable y moralmente elevado.

Word by Word

• इन्द्रियार्थेषु: in the objects of the senses
• इन्द्रियार्थेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: इन्द्रियार्थ
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Plural

• वैराग्यम्: dispassion
• वैराग्यम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वैराग्य
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• वै: indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै

• अनहंकारः: absence of egoism
• अनहंकारः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अनहंकार
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• एव: only/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

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

• जन्म: birth
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन्मन्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• मृत्यु: death
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृत्यु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

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

• व्याधि: disease
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्याधि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• दुःख: sorrow/suffering
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुःख
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• दोष: fault/defect
• Type: Noun
• Root: दोष
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अनुदर्शनम्: repeated seeing/constant contemplation
• अनुदर्शनम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अनुदर्शन
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Arjuna

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights inner qualifications for wisdom: (1) detachment from sensory objects (vairāgya), (2) absence of egoism (anahaṅkāra), and (3) sustained contemplation of the inherent defects in worldly existence—birth, death, aging, and disease—so that one does not mistake transient pleasures for lasting good.

What is happening in the narrative?

Within Bhīṣma Parva’s philosophical instruction, Arjuna is presented as voicing (or reciting) a list of virtues/insights that characterize right understanding. The focus shifts from battlefield externals to the ethical-psychological discipline needed for clarity and steadfastness.