Shloka 143

Varṇa-dharma and Rājadharma: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Normative Outline (वर्णधर्म-राजधर्म-प्रश्नोत्तरम्)

Devanagari script

भुवि चाधोगतं यच्च तच्च सर्व समर्पितम्‌ | तस्मिन्‌ पैतामहे शास्त्रे पाण्डवैतन्न संशय:

Transliteration

bhuvi cādhogataṃ yac ca tac ca sarvaṃ samarpitam | tasmin paitāmahe śāstre pāṇḍava etan na saṃśayaḥ |

Translation

Bhishma dijo: “Cuanto existe sobre la tierra, y cuanto yace bajo ella también—todo ello ha sido expuesto de manera íntegra e incluido en aquel antiguo tratado proclamado por el Abuelo (Brahmā). Oh hijo de Pāṇḍu, no hay duda de esto.”

Word by Word

• भुवि: on/in the earth
• भुवि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भू (स्त्री.)
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

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

• अधोगतम्: gone below; subterranean
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अधोगत (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• यत्: whatever (which)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

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

• तत्: that
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

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

• सर्वम्: all, entire
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व (सर्वनाम/विशेषण-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• समर्पितम्: has been included/consigned/placed
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-√अर्प् (समर्पित, भूतकृदन्त)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular, Passive (PPP used predicatively)

• तस्मिन्: in that
• तस्मिन्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• पैतामहे: of the Grandsire (Brahmā); brahmic
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पैतामह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• शास्त्रे: in the treatise/teaching
• शास्त्रे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शास्त्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• पाण्डव: O Pāṇḍava
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• एतत्: this
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• संशयः: doubt
• संशयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: संशय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Pāṇḍava (Yudhiṣṭhira implied)
• Brahmā (Pitamaha)
• paitāmaha-śāstra (Brahmā’s treatise)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma affirms the comprehensiveness and reliability of the primordial dharma-teaching attributed to Brahmā: it is portrayed as encompassing all realms of existence (earth and what lies beneath), and therefore as a complete ethical and cosmological authority.

What is happening in the narrative?

During Bhishma’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira in the Śānti Parva, he emphasizes that the guidance he is citing rests on an ancient, authoritative śāstra of Brahmā, leaving no room for doubt about its scope and inclusion of all matters relevant to worldly order and conduct.