Shloka 27

Āśrama-dharma: Duties of the Four Life-Stages (आश्रमधर्मः)

Devanagari script

वैश्ये चेच्छति नान्येन रक्षितव्या: कथंचन । शूद्रस्यापि हि यो धर्मस्तं ते वक्ष्यामि भारत,जबतक वैश्य पशुपालनका कार्य करना चाहे, तबतक मालिकको दूसरे किसीके द्वारा किसी तरह भी वह कार्य नहीं कराना चाहिये, भारत! अब मैं शूद्रका भी धर्म तुम्हें बता रहा हूँ

Transliteration

vaiśye cecchati nānyena rakṣitavyāḥ kathaṃcana | śūdrasyāpi hi yo dharmas taṃ te vakṣyāmi bhārata ||

Translation

Bhishma dijo: «Mientras un vaiśya desee cumplir la labor de cuidar y proteger el ganado, el dueño no debe, de modo alguno, hacer que esa tarea la realice otra persona. ¡Oh Bhārata!, ahora también te diré el deber (dharma) que corresponde al śūdra.»

Word by Word

वैश्येin/with regard to the vaiśya

चेत्if

इच्छतिwishes/desires

नnot

अन्येनby another (person)

रक्षितव्याःshould be protected/guarded (must be kept under one’s own charge)

कथंचनin any way; at all

शूद्रस्यof the śūdra

अपिalso/even

हिindeed/for

यःwhich/that (who)

धर्मःduty/law

तम्that (duty)

तेto you

वक्ष्यामिI will tell

भारतO Bhārata

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Bhārata (Yudhiṣṭhira)

Vaiśya

Śūdra

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?

Bhishma frames varṇa-based duty as a matter of respecting a person’s rightful work: if a Vaiśya is willing to perform cattle-tending/protection, the task should not be reassigned to others. He then transitions to explaining the Śūdra’s dharma, continuing his systematic account of social duties.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and governance after the war. Here he concludes a point about the Vaiśya’s role (especially cattle-related responsibility) and signals the next topic: the prescribed duties of the Śūdra.