Shloka 8

तुलाधार-उपदेशः

Tulādhāra’s Instruction to Jājali on Ahiṃsā and Abhaya-dāna

Devanagari script

अप्रतीघातिता चैव भूतत्वं विकृतानि च । गुणा: पज्चाशतं प्रोक्ता: पज्चभूतात्मभाविता:

Transliteration

aprātighātitā caiva bhūtatvaṁ vikṛtāni ca | guṇāḥ pañcāśataṁ proktāḥ pañcabhūtātmabhāvitāḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma dit : « L’inobstructibilité, le fait d’être un “bhūta” (principe élémentaire) et les modifications (qui en procèdent) doivent aussi être comptés. Ainsi, cinquante qualités sont déclarées — des qualités fondées sur la nature des cinq grands éléments. » Dans ce passage, Bhīṣma systématise l’analyse du cosmos et de l’expérience incarnée par les propriétés élémentaires, guidant l’auditeur vers le discernement (viveka) plutôt que vers l’attachement aux apparences des sens.

Word by Word

• अप्रतीघातिता: non-obstructability / non-resistance
• अप्रतीघातिता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अप्रतीघातिता (प्रतीघातिता-)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• एव: indeed / just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• भूतत्वम्: element-ness / being a (sense-causing) element
• भूतत्वम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भूतत्व (भूत + त्व)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• विकृतानि: modified / derivative (products)
• विकृतानि: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विकृत (वि + कृ + त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• गुणाः: qualities
• गुणाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुण
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• पञ्चाशतम्: fifty
• पञ्चाशतम्: Karma
• Type: Numeral/Adjective
• Root: पञ्चाशत्
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• प्रोक्ताः: are said / have been stated
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + वच् (क्त)
• Form: कर्मणि (past passive participle used predicatively), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• पञ्चभूतात्मभाविताः: grounded in/pertaining to the nature of the five elements
• पञ्चभूतात्मभाविताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पञ्चभूतात्मभावित (पञ्च-भूत-आत्म-भावित)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• five great elements (pañcamahābhūta)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a systematic enumeration of elemental qualities: the world of experience can be analyzed as properties (guṇas) rooted in the five great elements, including features like non-obstructability, elemental causality (bhūtatva), and their transformations (vikṛtis). This supports discernment about what is fundamental versus derivative in embodied life.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Shanti Parva’s instruction section, Bhishma continues his philosophical exposition to Yudhishthira, classifying reality through the five elements and their attributes, as part of a broader ethical-spiritual program aimed at inner clarity and liberation-oriented understanding.