Shloka 17

कपोत-लुब्धकसंवादः — Hunter’s Remorse and Renunciatory Resolve

Devanagari script

न धर्मवचन वाचा नैव बुद्धयेति नः श्रुतम्‌ । इति बार्हस्पतं ज्ञानं प्रोवाच मघवा स्वयम्‌

Transliteration

na dharmavacana-vācā naiva buddhayeti naḥ śrutam | iti bārhaspataṃ jñānaṃ provāca maghavā svayam ||

Translation

Bhishma dit : « Nous avons entendu dire que le dharma ne se fixe pas de façon décisive par la seule éloquence, ni par l’intellect seul. Tel est l’enseignement de Bṛhaspati : le dharma se détermine par la force conjointe du témoignage des śāstra et de l’examen raisonné — ainsi l’a proclamé Maghavā (Indra) lui-même. »

Word by Word

• {'na': 'not', 'dharma': 'righteousness

• right order', 'vacana': 'statement

• authoritative utterance (often scriptural or traditional)', 'vācā': 'by speech

• eloquence', 'naiva': 'not even

• nor indeed', 'buddhayā (buddhi)': 'by intellect

• rational faculty', 'iti': 'thus

• in this manner', 'naḥ': 'by us

• for us', 'śrutam': 'heard

• received tradition', 'bārhaspatam': 'belonging to Bṛhaspati

• Bṛhaspati’s', 'jñānam': 'knowledge

• teaching', 'provāca': 'said

• proclaimed', 'maghavā': 'Maghavān, an epithet of Indra', 'svayam': 'himself

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Brihaspati
• Indra (Maghavān)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma cannot be fixed by rhetoric alone or by abstract reasoning alone; it is best discerned by integrating authoritative teaching (śāstra/tradition) with rational examination (buddhi/yukti).

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhishma cites a doctrinal position attributed to Bṛhaspati and affirmed by Indra, emphasizing a balanced method for judging dharma.