Shloka 174

Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)

Devanagari script

तदेवमनुसंदृश्य वाच्यावाच्यं परीक्षता | स्त्रीपुंसोी: समवायो<यं त्वया वाच्यो न संसदि,अतः इस प्रकार विचार करके यहाँ क्या कहना चाहिये और क्या नहीं, इसको जाँच- बूझ लेना आवश्यक है। इस भरी सभामें आपको स्त्री-पुरुषोंके संयोगकी चर्चा कदापि नहीं करनी चाहिये

Transliteration

tad evam anusandṛśya vācyāvācyaṁ parīkṣatā | strī-puṁsoḥ samavāyo 'yaṁ tvayā vācyo na saṁsadi ||

Translation

Bhishma dijo: «Habiendo reflexionado así y examinado con cuidado qué debe decirse y qué no, no debes, en esta asamblea colmada, hablar de la unión de mujer y varón. Tal asunto no es digno de deliberación pública; la contención en la palabra es también una forma de dharma.»

Word by Word

तत्that

एवम्thus

अनुसंदृश्यhaving considered/observed

वाच्यwhat should be said

अवाच्यwhat should not be said

परीक्षताby (you) who have examined / after examining

स्त्रीof a woman

पुंसःof a man

समवायःunion/association

अयम्this

त्वयाby you

वाच्यःshould be spoken

नnot

संसदिin the assembly

Speaker

भीष्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

saṁsad (assembly)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

One should discriminate between what is fit to say and what is unfit, especially in a public assembly. Even if a matter is true or relevant, topics that violate decorum—here, discussion of sexual union—should be restrained; ethical speech is guided by propriety, context, and the dignity of the forum.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is instructing his listener during the Śānti Parva’s didactic discourse on dharma. He cautions that in a crowded royal assembly one must avoid certain intimate subjects, emphasizing careful judgment (parīkṣā) of speech according to place and audience.