Shloka 8

आशा-कृशता उपाख्यानम्

The Episode on the Emaciation Caused by Hope

Devanagari script

भीष्म उवाच अत्र ते वर्तयिष्यामि युधिष्ठिर निबोध तत्‌ । इतिहासं सुमित्रस्य निर्वत्तमृषभस्य च

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | atra te vartayiṣyāmi yudhiṣṭhira nibodha tat | itihāsaṃ sumitrasya nirvṛttam ṛṣabhasya ca ||

Translation

Bhishma dit : «Ici, ô Yudhishthira, je vais te raconter—écoute avec une attention soutenue—un ancien récit concernant le roi Sumitra et le sage Rishabha, tel qu’il se déroula jadis.»

Word by Word

• {'bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', 'atra': 'here

• in this context', 'te': 'to you', 'vartayiṣyāmi': 'I will narrate

• I will relate', 'yudhiṣṭhira': 'O Yudhishthira', 'nibodha': 'understand

• listen and grasp', 'tat': 'that (matter/teaching)', 'itihāsam': 'traditional narrative

• historical/legendary account with moral import', 'sumitrasya': 'of Sumitra', 'nirvṛttam': 'that which occurred

• completed/previously happened', 'ṛṣabhasya': 'of Rishabha', 'ca': 'and'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Yudhishthira
• King Sumitra
• Sage Rishabha

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma frames dharma-instruction through itihasa: ethical principles are best grasped when presented as a concrete past example involving a king and a sage, inviting attentive listening and reflection.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma signals a transition into an illustrative story: he tells Yudhishthira that he will now narrate a prior episode concerning King Sumitra and the sage Rishabha, and urges him to listen carefully.