Shloka 2

Adhyāya 272: Vṛtrasya Dharmiṣṭhatā, Indrasya Mohaḥ, Vasiṣṭha-upadeśaḥ

Vṛtra’s dharmic stature; Indra’s disorientation; Vasiṣṭha’s counsel

Devanagari script

भीष्म उवाच विदिता: सर्वधर्मस्ति स्थित्यर्थ त्वं तु पृष्छसि । शृणु मोक्ष सनिर्वेदं पापं धर्म च मूलत:

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | viditāḥ sarva-dharmāḥ tiṣṭhity-arthaṁ tvaṁ tu pṛcchasi | śṛṇu mokṣa-sa-nirvedaṁ pāpaṁ dharmaṁ ca mūlataḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma dijo: «Oh rey, ya conoces todos los deberes del dharma. Sin embargo, me preguntas para sostener el orden establecido del mundo y para acrecentar mi honra. Ahora escucha: te explicaré desde la raíz qué es la liberación, qué es el desapego, y cuáles son las fuentes del pecado y del dharma.»

Word by Word

• {'bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', 'viditāḥ': 'known, understood', 'sarva-dharmāḥ': 'all dharmas

• all duties/laws of righteousness', 'sthity-artham (sthiti-artham)': 'for the sake of stability/maintenance (of order)', 'tvam': 'you', 'tu': 'but/indeed', 'pṛcchasi': 'you ask, you inquire', 'śṛṇu': 'listen', 'mokṣa': 'liberation, release', 'sa-nirvedam': 'together with nirveda

• along with dispassion/inner weariness toward worldly life', 'nirveda': 'disenchantment, detachment, spiritual dispassion', 'pāpam': 'sin, demerit, wrongdoing', 'dharmam': 'dharma

• righteousness, duty, moral law', 'ca': 'and', 'mūlataḥ': 'from the root

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• the king (Yudhishthira, implied)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma frames the inquiry as a deliberate, duty-oriented question meant to preserve social order, and he announces a foundational teaching: an analysis of moksha (liberation), nirveda (dispassion), and the root-causes of both sin (pāpa) and righteousness (dharma).

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva instruction sequence, Yudhishthira questions Bhishma on dharma. Bhishma responds that the king already knows much, yet asks to uphold worldly order and honor the teacher; Bhishma then begins a systematic exposition on liberation, detachment, and moral causality.