Shloka 20

Mahāvasu’s Fall by Speech-Error and Release through Devotion (अज-विवादः वसोः शापः विमोचनं च)

Devanagari script

हंसाश्न शतपत्राश्न सारसाश्न सहस्रश:

Transliteration

haṃsāśnān śatapatrāśnān sārasāśnān sahasraśaḥ

Translation

Bhīṣma dit : «Les uns se nourrissent de haṃsas (cygnes), les autres de śatapatras (lotus), et d’autres encore de sārasas (grues) — par milliers.»

Word by Word

• हंसाश्नाः: those who eat swans
• हंसाश्नाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हंसाश्न
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• शतपत्राश्नाः: those who eat (the bird called) śatapatra
• शतपत्राश्नाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शतपत्राश्न
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सारसाश्नाः: those who eat cranes (sārasa)
• सारसाश्नाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सारसाश्न
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सहस्रशः: by the thousand; in thousands
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सहस्रशस्

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• haṃsa (swan)
• śatapatra (lotus)
• sārasa (crane)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse points to the immense variety in living beings and their ways of life. In Śānti-parvan’s ethical frame, such variety supports a broader lesson: dharma requires discernment and contextual understanding, not rigid uniformity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is speaking and uses a catalog-like image—swans, lotuses, cranes, and ‘thousands’—to illustrate abundance and diversity in the natural world, as part of a larger didactic discussion in Śānti-parvan.