Shloka 46

Devanagari script

काष्ठानि चाभिहार्याणि तथा कूपांश्न॒ खानयेत्‌ । संशोधयेत्‌ तथा कूपान्‌ कृतपूर्वान्‌ पयोडर्थिभि:

Transliteration

kāṣṭhāni cābhihāryāṇi tathā kūpāṁś ca khānayet | saṁśodhayet tathā kūpān kṛtapūrvān payodarthibhiḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma dijo: «También debe acopiar leña y, del mismo modo, mandar cavar pozos. Y los pozos ya hechos con anterioridad han de ser limpiados, por el bien de quienes buscan agua».

Word by Word

काष्ठानिpieces of wood, timber

चand

अभिहार्याणिto be brought, to be fetched

तथाlikewise, similarly

कूपान्wells

चand

खानयेत्should dig (have dug)

संशोधयेत्should clean, should purify

तथाlikewise

कूपान्wells

कृतपूर्वान्previously made, already constructed

पयःof water

अर्थिभिःby those who seek, by the needy/desirous

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

kāṣṭha (firewood)

kūpa (wells)

payas (water)

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?

Dharma includes practical compassion: ensuring basic necessities—especially water—by creating and maintaining public resources (digging new wells and cleaning old ones), and supplying essentials like firewood.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction on righteous conduct and governance in the Shanti Parva, he lists concrete duties of care for the community: arrange firewood, dig wells, and restore existing wells so that travelers and residents who need water are not deprived.