Shloka 6

कालनियमः शोकशमनं च

Kāla as Regulator; Pacification of Grief

Devanagari script

ज्ञाननिष्ठेषु कार्याणि प्रतिष्ठाप्पानि पाण्डव । वैखानसानां वचन यथा नो विदितं प्रभो

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca |

Jñānaniṣṭheṣu kāryāṇi pratiṣṭhāpyāni Pāṇḍava |

Vaikhānasānāṁ vacanaṁ yathā no viditaṁ prabho ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dit : «Ô Pāṇḍava, les affaires du gouvernement doivent être confiées à ceux qui sont solidement établis dans la connaissance véritable. Telle est, ô seigneur, l’instruction que nous comprenons des Vaikhānasa.»

Word by Word

• ज्ञाननिष्ठेषु: in/among those devoted to knowledge
• ज्ञाननिष्ठेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ज्ञाननिष्ठा (ज्ञान + निष्ठा)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Plural

• कार्याणि: tasks; duties; affairs
• कार्याणि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कार्य
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• प्रतिष्ठाप्यानि: to be entrusted/established (to be assigned)
• प्रतिष्ठाप्यानि: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रतिष्ठाप्य (प्रति-स्था/स्थाप् + णिच; gerundive)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• पाण्डव: O Pandava
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डव
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• वैखानसानाम्: of the Vaikhanasas (a Vedic ascetic order)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वैखानस
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• वचनम्: statement; instruction
• वचनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वचन
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• यथा: as; according to how
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• नः: to us / of us
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: Genitive/Dative, Plural

• विदितम्: known; understood
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विदित (√विद्)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• प्रभो: O lord
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रभु
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Pāṇḍava (Yudhiṣṭhira)
• Vaikhānasas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

State responsibilities should be placed in the hands of people who are steadfast in spiritual and ethical knowledge, implying that inner discipline and discernment are prerequisites for just administration.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and rulership, Vaiśampāyana reports a normative guideline—attributed to the Vaikhānasa authorities—about whom a king should trust with the kingdom’s affairs: those established in jñāna.