Shloka 18

जापक–इक्ष्वाकु–सत्यविवादः

The Jāpaka, Ikṣvāku, and the Dispute on Truth and Merit

Devanagari script

उज्छवृत्तिर्गुहस्थो यः स्वधर्माचरणे रत: । त्यक्तकामसुखारम्भ: स्वर्गस्तस्य न दुर्लभ:,जो गृहस्थ ब्राह्मण अपने धर्मके आचरणमें तत्पर हो उज्छवृत्तिसे (खेत या बाजारमें बिखरे हुए अनाजके एक-एक दानेको बीनकर) जीविका चलाता है तथा काम-सुखका परित्याग कर देता है, उसके लिये स्वर्ग कोई दुर्लभ वस्तु नहीं है

Transliteration

ujchavṛttir guhāstho yaḥ svadharmācaraṇe rataḥ | tyaktakāmasukhārambhaḥ svargas tasya na durlabhaḥ ||

Translation

Bharadvāja dit : Le maître de maison qui vit de glanage—se soutenant de ce qui est laissé derrière—qui se voue à la pratique de son propre dharma et qui a renoncé aux entreprises mues par le plaisir des sens, trouve que le ciel n’est nullement difficile à atteindre.

Word by Word

उच्छवृत्तिःone whose livelihood is by gleaning (scattered grains)

गृहस्थःhouseholder

यःwho

स्वधर्माचरणेin the practice of one’s own duty

रतःengaged, devoted

त्यक्तकामसुखारम्भःhaving abandoned undertakings for sensual pleasure

स्वर्गःheaven

तस्यfor him / of him

नnot

दुर्लभःhard to obtain

Speaker

भरद्वाज उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bharadvāja

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?

A householder can attain high spiritual reward by faithfully practicing svadharma with extreme simplicity (ujchavṛtti) and by renouncing pleasure-driven undertakings; inner discipline, not prosperity, is presented as the decisive factor.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, Bharadvāja states a normative rule: he describes an ideal gṛhastha who lives by gleaning and restrains sensual pursuits, and he declares that such a person’s attainment of svarga is easy.