Shloka 5

Adhyāya 179 — Bharadvāja’s Reductionist Inquiry into Jīva and Pañcabhūta Dissolution

Devanagari script

उपदेशं महाप्राज्ञ शमस्योपदिशस्व मे । कां बुद्धि समनुध्याय शान्तश्नरसि निर्वृत:

Transliteration

upadeśaṁ mahāprājña śamasya upadiśasva me | kāṁ buddhiṁ samanudhyāya śāntaś carasi nirvṛtaḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma dit : «Ô grand sage à la sagesse profonde, instruis-moi dans la discipline du calme (śama) qui mène à la paix intérieure. Quelle compréhension médites-tu et sur quoi t’appuies-tu, pour cheminer dans la vie tranquille et comblé ?»

Word by Word

• उपदेशम्: instruction, teaching
• उपदेशम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: उपदेश
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• महाप्राज्ञ: O very wise one
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाप्राज्ञ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• शमस्य: of tranquility/peace
• Type: Noun
• Root: शम
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• उपदिशस्व: teach, instruct
• Type: Verb
• Root: उपदिश्
• Form: Imperative, Second, Singular, Parasmaipada

• मे: to me
• मे: Sampradana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: —, Dative, Singular

• काम्: which? what (fem.)
• काम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: किम्
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• बुद्धिम्: understanding, intellect
• बुद्धिम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: बुद्धि
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• समनुध्याय: having contemplated, having reflected upon
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-अनु-ध्यै
• Form: ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage)

• शान्तः: peaceful, calm
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शान्त
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• स्मरन्: remembering, bearing in mind
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्मृ
• Form: शतृ (present active participle), Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• असि: you are
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस्
• Form: Present, Second, Singular, Parasmaipada

• निर्वृतः: content, satisfied, at ease
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्वृत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames peace (śama) as something grounded in a particular buddhi—an inner understanding cultivated through sustained contemplation (samanudhyāya). Bhīṣma seeks the practical and ethical basis of tranquility: what insight enables a person to live calmly and with contentment.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction-setting, Bhīṣma, lying on his bed of arrows and guiding the post-war moral inquiry, asks a highly wise interlocutor for a teaching on mental peace. He requests the specific kind of reflective wisdom that allows the teacher to remain serene and fulfilled.