Shloka 131

Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment

Parāśara’s Instruction

Devanagari script

अवर्णश्न सुवर्णश्र॒ वर्णकारो घनोपम: । सुवर्णनामा च तथा सुवर्णप्रिय एव च

Transliteration

avarṇaś ca suvarṇaś ca varṇakāro ghanopamaḥ | suvarṇanāmā ca tathā suvarṇapriya eva ca ||

Translation

Bhīṣma dit : « On te nomme “Avarṇa” parce que tu es au-delà de toute classification, et “Suvarṇa” parce que tu es d’une excellence suprême. Tu es le façonnier de toutes les lettres et de tous les sons, et tu es semblable à un nuage de pluie épais. Ton nom même est composé de belles syllabes : c’est pourquoi tu es “Suvarṇanāmā” ; et tu aimes, en vérité, l’expression la plus haute et la plus pure. »

Word by Word

• {'avarṇaḥ': 'without varṇa

• beyond classification or description', 'suvarṇaḥ': 'excellent

• literally ‘good/golden varṇa’ (fine quality, auspiciousness)', 'varṇakāraḥ': 'maker/creator of varṇas

• producer of letters, sounds, or categories', 'ghana-upamaḥ': 'cloud-like

• comparable to a dense rain-cloud', 'suvarṇa-nāmā': 'one whose name is ‘suvarṇa’/whose name is made of beautiful syllables', 'tathā': 'and also

• likewise', 'suvarṇa-priyaḥ': 'one who is fond of what is excellent/pure

• lover of fine expression/letters', 'eva': 'indeed

• emphatic particle', 'ca': 'and'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse praises the Supreme as both beyond all limiting classifications (avarṇa) and yet the source of all refined qualities and expression (suvarṇa). It links divinity with the origin of speech/letters (varṇakāra) and uses the rain-cloud image to suggest fullness, power, and beneficence.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhishma delivers extended instruction and devotional praise. Here he is reciting epithets that glorify the deity as transcendent yet the creator of language and auspicious qualities, continuing a stuti-style enumeration of names and attributes.