Shloka 24

Devanagari script

काम्यनैमित्तिका राजन्‌ यज्ञिया: परमक्रिया: । सर्वा: सात्वतमास्थाय विधि चक्रे समाहित:,राजन! वे सदा सावधान रहकर सकाम और नैमित्तिक यज्ञोंकी सम्पूर्ण क्रियाओंको वैष्णवशास्त्रोक्त विधिसे सम्पन्न किया करते थे

Transliteration

kāmyanaimittikā rājan yajñiyāḥ paramakriyāḥ | sarvāḥ sātvatam āsthāya vidhiṃ cakre samāhitaḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma dijo: «Oh rey, con concentración firme y constante vigilancia, ellos realizaban siempre los ritos sacrificiales más excelsos—tanto los emprendidos por un fruto deseado como los motivados por ocasiones determinadas—cumpliendo cada procedimiento conforme a la tradición Sātvata (vaiṣṇava) y a su regla prescrita».

Word by Word

• काम्य: desire-motivated (optional)
• काम्य: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: काम्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• नैमित्तिकाः: occasional/for a specific cause
• नैमित्तिकाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नैमित्तिक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• यज्ञियाः: pertaining to sacrifice; sacrificial
• यज्ञियाः: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यज्ञिय
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• परमक्रियाः: supreme rites/acts
• परमक्रियाः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: परम-क्रिया
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• सर्वाः: all
• सर्वाः: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• सात्वतम्: the Sātvata (Vaiṣṇava) system/teaching
• सात्वतम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सात्वत
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• आस्थाय: having resorted to / adopting
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-स्था
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage-neutral for gerund)

• विधिम्: rule; prescribed procedure
• विधिम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: विधि
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• चक्रे: did; performed
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Perfect (लिट्), Atmanepada, Third, Singular

• समाहितः: composed; attentive; concentrated
• समाहितः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम्-आ-धा
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, क्त (past passive participle)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• rājan (the King, i.e., Yudhiṣṭhira as addressee)
• Sātvata (Vaiṣṇava tradition)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Ritual action becomes ethically grounded when performed with attentiveness and in obedience to a recognized dharmic rule (vidhi). Even goal-oriented rites (kāmya) are to be regulated by discipline, tradition, and devotion rather than mere desire.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is instructing the king (Yudhiṣṭhira) and describes exemplary people who regularly performed both optional (kāmya) and occasion-driven (naimittika) sacrifices, completing them according to the Sātvata/Vaiṣṇava injunctions with a composed, focused mind.