Shloka 13

Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154

Devanagari script

सर्वेण खलु मर्तव्यं मर्त्यलोके प्रसूयता । कृतान्तविहिते मार्गे मृतं को जीवयिष्यति,“जिसने इस मर्त्यलोकमें जन्म लिया है, उसे एक-न-एक दिन अवश्य मरना होगा। कालद्वारा निर्मित पथपर मरकर गये हुए प्राणीको कौन जीवित कर सकेगा

Transliteration

sarveṇa khalu martavyaṃ martyaloke prasūyatā | kṛtāntavihite mārge mṛtaṃ ko jīvayiṣyati ||

Translation

Bhīṣma dit : «En vérité, quiconque naît dans le monde des mortels doit mourir un jour. Lorsqu’un être est mort sur la voie prescrite par le Temps (le décret de la Mort), qui pourrait rendre la vie au défunt ?»

Word by Word

सर्वेणby everyone / by all (i.e., by every being)

खलुindeed, surely

मर्तव्यम्must die / is to be died

मर्त्यलोकेin the mortal world

प्रसूयताby one who is born / by the born (being)

कृतान्तविहितेon/within the path ordained by Death (Time/Fate)

मार्गेon the path

मृतम्the dead (one) / one who has died

कःwho?

जीवयिष्यतिwill make (him) live / will revive

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

martyaloka

kṛtānta (Death/Time)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

All who are born must die; death follows the ordained course of Time (kṛtānta/kāla). Since no one can revive the dead, wisdom lies in accepting mortality and aligning one’s response—especially grief—with the universal order (dharma) rather than resisting the inevitable.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction, Bhīṣma addresses the realities of human suffering after catastrophic loss. He frames death as universal and governed by kṛtānta (Death/Time), offering a consolatory, ethical perspective meant to steady the listener’s mind and guide conduct amid bereavement.