Shloka 34

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

Devanagari script

यं च कज्चिद्‌ द्विजातीनां शूद्र: शुश्रूषुराव्रजेत्‌

Transliteration

yaṃ ca kaścid dvijātīnāṃ śūdraḥ śuśrūṣur āvrajet

Translation

Dijo Bhīṣma: «Y si algún Śūdra, deseoso de servir con respeto, se acercara a uno de los dos veces nacidos (brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya o vaiśya)…»

Word by Word

यम्whom

चand

कञ्चित्any (someone)

द्विजातीनाम्of the twice-born (classes)

शूद्रःa Shudra

शुश्रूषुःdesirous of serving

आव्रजेत्should go/approach

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Śūdra

Dvijāti (twice-born)

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?

The verse frames a dharmic scenario in which a Śūdra, motivated by śuśrūṣā (respectful service and attendance), approaches a member of the twice-born classes; it introduces norms of conduct centered on service, humility, and social duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he begins a conditional statement about a Śūdra who approaches a dvijāti with the intention to serve, setting up the rule or consequence that follows in the subsequent verse(s).