Shloka 83

Devanagari script

रक्तमाल्यं न धार्य स्याच्छुक्लं धार्य तु पण्डितै: । वर्जयित्वा तु कमलं तथा कुवलयं प्रभो

Transliteration

raktamālyaṃ na dhāryaṃ syāc chuklaṃ dhāryaṃ tu paṇḍitaiḥ | varjayitvā tu kamalaṃ tathā kuvalayaṃ prabho ||

Translation

Bhīṣma dit : «On ne doit pas porter de guirlande de fleurs rouges ; les hommes instruits doivent porter une guirlande blanche. Mais, ô seigneur, cette règle ne vaut qu’après avoir excepté le lotus et le kuvalaya (lotus bleu) ; ainsi, même s’ils tirent sur le rouge, il n’y a pas de faute à les porter.»

Word by Word

• {'rakta': 'red

• blood-colored', 'mālya (mālyam)': 'garland

• floral wreath', 'na': 'not', 'dhāryam': 'to be worn

• fit to be worn', 'syāt (syāc)': 'should be

• may be', 'śukla': 'white

• pure', 'tu': 'but

• indeed', 'paṇḍitaiḥ': 'by the learned

• by wise persons', 'varjayitvā': 'having excluded

• excepting', 'kamala': 'lotus', 'tathā': 'and likewise

• similarly', 'kuvalaya': 'blue lotus / water-lily (often associated with dark-blue hue)', 'prabho': 'O lord

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• garland (mālya)
• red flowers
• white flowers
• lotus (kamala)
• kuvalaya (blue lotus/water-lily)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma teaches a rule of auspicious conduct: generally avoid red-flower garlands and prefer white ones, while explicitly allowing lotus and kuvalaya as exceptions even if they appear red-hued.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction on proper conduct (ācāra), Bhīṣma answers a query about what is appropriate to wear, specifying which flower garlands are considered suitable and noting traditional exceptions.