Shloka 40

Āśrama-dharma: Duties of the Four Life-Stages (आश्रमधर्मः)

Devanagari script

यतो हि सर्ववर्णानां यज्ञस्तस्यैव भारत । अग्रे सर्वेषु यज्ञेषु श्रद्धायज्ञो विधीयते

Transliteration

yato hi sarvavarṇānāṁ yajñas tasyaiva bhārata | agre sarveṣu yajñeṣu śraddhāyajño vidhīyate ||

Translation

Bhīṣma dit : « Ô Bharata, le devoir sacrificiel de tous les varṇa relève en définitive de ce même principe : le service et le soutien. C’est pourquoi, parmi tous les sacrifices, on prescrit d’abord le sacrifice fait de foi. Puisque les sacrifices des trois ordres supérieurs sont soutenus par le travail de service du Śūdra, leur mérite lui parvient aussi ; il n’a donc pas à entreprendre un rite distinct. En tout sacrifice, la foi est l’offrande première. »

Word by Word

• {'yato hi': 'for, because

• since indeed', 'sarva-varṇānām': 'of all varṇas (social orders)', 'yajñaḥ': 'sacrifice

• also any consecrated duty/offering', 'tasya eva': 'belongs to him/that alone

• is indeed his/that very one’s', 'bhārata': 'O Bharata (address to Yudhiṣṭhira, descendant of Bharata)', 'agre': 'first

• foremost', 'sarveṣu yajñeṣu': 'in all sacrifices', 'śraddhā-yajñaḥ': 'the ‘sacrifice of faith’

• faith as the primary inner offering', 'vidhīyate': 'is prescribed

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Bharata (Yudhishthira)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Faith (śraddhā) is the indispensable first element of any yajña: without inner trust and sincerity, outer ritual loses its ethical and spiritual force. Bhishma also frames sacrifice as a shared social enterprise—since the rites of the higher varṇas depend on the supporting service of others, the resulting merit is not isolated but participates in a wider moral economy.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma addresses Yudhiṣṭhira (“O Bharata”) and explains principles of sacrificial duty and social interdependence. He emphasizes that śraddhā is prescribed foremost among sacrifices and that the supportive role of the Śūdra connects him to the fruits of yajña, reducing the need for separate ritual obligation.