Shloka 4

Anuśāsana-parva Adhyāya 112: Dharma as the sole companion; karmic witnesses; rebirth sequences

Bṛhaspati–Yudhiṣṭhira Saṃvāda

Devanagari script

तीर्थशौचमनर्थित्वमार्जवं सत्यमार्दवम्‌ अहिंसा सर्वभूतानामानृशंस्यं दम: शम:

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | tīrtha-śaucam anarthitvam ārjavaṁ satyam ārdavam | ahiṁsā sarva-bhūtānām ānṛśaṁsyaṁ damaḥ śamaḥ || kāmanā-yācanayor abhāvaḥ saralatā satyaṁ mṛdutā ahiṁsā samasta-prāṇiṣu krūratābhāvaḥ (dayā) indriya-saṁyamaḥ mano-nigrahaś ca—etāni eva asya mānasa-tīrthasya sevanena prāptāyāḥ pavitratāyāḥ lakṣaṇāni ||

Translation

Bhishma dit : «La pureté d’un tīrtha s’obtient véritablement par les vertus intérieures : absence de désir et de sollicitation, droiture, véracité, douceur, non-violence envers tous les êtres, compassion (absence de cruauté), maîtrise des sens et domination de l’esprit. Tels sont les signes de la pureté acquise en recourant à ce “tīrtha mental”, pèlerinage intérieur du caractère.»

Word by Word

• {'tīrtha': 'a sacred ford/place of pilgrimage

• by extension, a means of purification', 'śauca (śaucam)': 'purity, cleanliness (outer and inner)', 'anarthitva': 'non-asking

• not being importunate', 'ārjava': 'straightforwardness, integrity, lack of crookedness', 'satya': 'truth, truthfulness', 'ārdava': 'gentleness, softness of disposition', 'ahiṁsā': 'non-violence

• non-injury in thought, word, and deed', 'sarva-bhūta': 'all beings/creatures', 'ānṛśaṁsya': 'non-cruelty, kindness, compassion', 'dama': 'restraint of the senses

• self-control', 'śama': 'tranquility

• inner calm', 'kāmanā': 'desire, craving', 'yācanā': 'requesting, begging', 'abhāva': 'absence, non-existence', 'saralatā': 'simplicity, guilelessness', 'mṛdutā': 'mildness, tenderness', 'krūratā-abhāva': 'absence of cruelty', 'dayā': 'compassion, mercy', 'indriya-saṁyama': 'discipline/restraint of the senses', 'mano-nigraha': 'control of the mind', 'mānasa-tīrtha': 'the ‘mental’ or inner pilgrimage

• inner sanctity as a sacred ford', 'sevana': 'resorting to, practicing, cultivating', 'lakṣaṇa': 'mark, characteristic, sign'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True purification is primarily inner: integrity, truth, gentleness, non-violence, compassion, and disciplined senses and mind constitute the real ‘tīrtha’ (pilgrimage) and its fruit.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs on dharma; here he reframes pilgrimage and ritual purity by emphasizing moral and psychological virtues as the defining signs of genuine sanctity.