Shloka 193

अहिंसा-प्रधान धर्मविचारः

Ahiṃsā as the Superior Dharma: Practical and Scriptural Reasoning

Devanagari script

द्वे चायुते नरश्रेष्ठ वाय्वाहारा महामते । तात! महामते! नरश्रेष्ठ फिर वह दस हजार पद्म वर्षोतक मृगोंके साथ विचरती रही। इसके बाद बीस हजार वर्षोंतक उसने केवल वायुका आहार किया

Transliteration

dve cāyute naraśreṣṭha vāyvāhārā mahāmate | tāta mahāmate naraśreṣṭha tataḥ sā daśa-sahasra-padma-varṣotka-mṛgaiḥ saha vicaratī rahī | tataḥ paraṁ viṁśati-sahasra-varṣāṇi kevalaṁ vāyum evāhāram akarot |

Translation

Bhīṣma dit : «Ô le meilleur des hommes, ô sage : elle vécut deux ayutas en ne se nourrissant que d’air. Puis, mon enfant, elle erra en compagnie des cerfs durant dix mille années padma. Après cela, pendant vingt mille ans, elle ne prit pour unique nourriture que l’air.»

Word by Word

• द्वे: two
• द्वे: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्वि
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Dual

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

• आयुते: two tens of thousands (i.e., 20,000)
• आयुते: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: आयुत
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Dual

• नरश्रेष्ठ: O best of men
• Type: Noun
• Root: नरश्रेष्ठ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• वाय्वाहारा: having air as food; subsisting on air
• वाय्वाहारा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वाय्वाहार
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• महामते: O great-minded one
• Type: Noun
• Root: महामति
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

पितामह उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma (Pitāmaha)
• unnamed female ascetic (she)
• deer (mṛga)
• air (vāyu)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights tapas—radical self-control and endurance—as a dharmic discipline, presenting sustained austerity (living on air, long periods of restraint) as a model of spiritual resolve.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma describes an ascetic woman’s extraordinary regimen across immense spans of time: she wanders with deer and repeatedly undertakes prolonged periods of subsisting solely on air, emphasizing the intensity of her vow.