Shloka 386

मृत्यु-काल-प्रबोधनम् (Instruction on Mortality, Time, and Truth) — Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 169

Devanagari script

अगमन्‌ बहवो मासा निधघ्नत: पक्षिणो बहून्‌ डाकुओंके सम्पर्कमें रहनेसे गौतम भी उनके ही समान पूरा डाकू बन गया। डाकुओंके गाँवमें सुखपूर्वक रहकर प्रतिदिन बहुत-से पक्षियोंका शिकार करते हुए उसके कई महीने बीत गये

Transliteration

agaman bahavo māsā nidhaghnataḥ pakṣiṇo bahūn; ḍākūnāṃ saṃparkeṇa sthitvā gautamo 'pi teṣām iva samagraḥ ḍākūḥ babhūva. ḍākū-grāme sukhena nivasan pratidinaṃ bahūn pakṣiṇaḥ mṛgayamāṇaḥ tasya bahavo māsā vyatītāḥ.

Translation

Bhīṣma dijo: Pasaron muchos meses mientras él seguía matando innumerables aves. Por vivir en compañía de bandidos, incluso Gautama llegó a ser como ellos: un ladrón consumado. Instalado cómodamente en la aldea de los salteadores y cazando día tras día gran cantidad de pájaros, dejó que varios meses se escurrieran. El episodio muestra cómo la convivencia prolongada moldea el carácter y la conducta, y cómo la comodidad y el hábito pueden normalizar la violencia y el adharma.

Word by Word

• अगमन्: went / passed
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम् (गच्छति)
• Form: लुङ् (Aorist), 3, Plural, परस्मैपद

• बहवः: many
• बहवः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बहु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• मासाः: months
• मासाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मास
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• निधघ्नतः: of (him) killing / while killing
• निधघ्नतः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि-हन् (निघ्नति)
• Form: शतृ (Present active participle), Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• पक्षिणः: birds
• पक्षिणः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पक्षिन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• बहून्: many
• बहून्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बहु
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Gautama
• bandits (ḍākū)
• bandits' village (ḍākū-grāma)
• birds (pakṣiṇaḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Prolonged association (saṃparka/saṅga) strongly molds one’s nature: living among wrongdoers and enjoying their comforts can normalize adharma, leading even a previously different person to adopt violent and unethical habits.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma narrates that Gautama, staying in a bandits’ village, spends months hunting and killing many birds daily; through continued contact with the bandits he becomes like them—effectively turning into a robber himself.