Shloka 52

ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana

River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor

Devanagari script

बाण: कार्तस्वरो वल्लिविश्वदंष्टो5थ नैऋति: | संकोचो<5थ वरीताक्षो वराहाश्वो रुचिप्रभ:

Transliteration

bāṇaḥ kārtasvaro valliviśvadaṃṣṭo ’tha nairṛtiḥ | saṃkoco ’tha varītākṣo varāhāśvo ruciprabhāḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma dit : «(Voici) les noms : Bāṇa, Kārtasvara, Valli-viśvadaṃṣṭa et Nairṛti ; ainsi que Saṃkoca, Varītākṣa, Varāhāśva et Ruciprabhā.» Dans ce passage, Bhīṣma poursuit une énumération solennelle d’êtres (ou d’appellations) précis, préservant la tradition de la dénomination exacte dans l’enseignement du dharma—où l’identification rigoureuse et la mémoire de ces noms sont tenues pour une part d’un savoir discipliné et d’un ordre rituel-éthique.

Word by Word

बाणःarrow; (name) Bāṇa

कार्तस्वरःKārtasvara (gold); (name) Kārtasvara

वल्लिविश्वदंष्टःValliviśvadaṃṣṭa (name; lit. 'having all-fang(s) like creepers')

अथand then; also

नैऋतिःNairṛti (name; relating to Nirṛti / the southwest)

संकोचःcontraction; (name) Saṃkoca

अथand then; also

वरीताक्षःVarītākṣa (name; lit. 'having varīta-like eyes')

वराहाश्वःVarāhāśva (name; lit. 'boar-and-horse')

रुचिप्रभःRuciprabha (name; 'splendor of radiance')

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Bāṇa

Kārtasvara

Valli-viśvadaṃṣṭa

Nairṛti

Saṃkoca

Varītākṣa

Varāhāśva

Ruciprabhā

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?

The verse functions as part of a dharma-style transmission where exact naming and orderly listing are treated as a form of disciplined knowledge—supporting remembrance, classification, and the integrity of the tradition being taught.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is continuing an enumerative passage, reciting a sequence of specific names/epithets. The verse is not argumentative but catalogic, preserving a received list within his instruction in the Śānti Parva.