Shloka 74

Yogakṣema, Purohita, and the Mucukunda–Vaiśravaṇa Dialogue (योगक्षेम–पुरोहित–मुचुकुन्दवैश्रवणसंवादः)

Devanagari script

ब्राह्मणको प्रतिदिन स्नान करके जलसम्बन्धी कृत्य--संध्या-वन्दन, तर्पण आदि कर्म करने चाहिये और क्षत्रियको सदा शस्त्रविद्याका अभ्यास बढ़ाना चाहिये। इस भूतलपर जो कोई भी वस्तु है, वह सब इन्हीं दोनोंके अधीन है ।।

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | brāhmaṇo 'pi pratidinaṃ snānaṃ kṛtvā jala-sambandhīni kṛtyāni—sandhyā-vandanaṃ tarpaṇam ādīni karmāṇi kartavyāni; kṣatriyo 'pi sadā śastra-vidyāyā abhyāsaṃ vardhayitavyaḥ | asmin bhūtale yā kācid api vastur asti sā sarvā etayoḥ ubhayor adhīnā ||

Translation

Bhīṣma dit : Le brāhmane doit se baigner chaque jour et accomplir les rites liés à l’eau—tels que le Sandhyā-vandana, le tarpana et d’autres actes rituels—; et le kṣatriya doit sans cesse accroître sa pratique de la science des armes. Tout ce qui existe sur cette terre dépend, en vérité, de ces deux-là. (Ainsi s’achève, dans le Mahābhārata, le Śānti Parva, la section d’instruction sur le dharma du roi, dans le récit de Mucukunda, le chapitre 74.)

Word by Word

• {'brāhmaṇaḥ': 'a Brahmin

• one whose duty centers on study, ritual, and spiritual discipline', 'pratidinam': 'every day', 'snānam': 'bathing

• ritual purification', 'jala-sambandhīni kṛtyāni': 'duties connected with water (ritual acts involving water)', 'sandhyā-vandanam': 'Sandhyā worship

• daily twilight prayers/adoration', 'tarpaṇam': 'libations/offerings (especially to ancestors and deities) with water', 'karmāṇi kartavyāni': 'actions that ought to be done

• obligatory duties', 'kṣatriyaḥ': 'a Kshatriya

• ruler/warrior whose duty is protection and governance', 'śastra-vidyā': 'knowledge/science of weapons and warfare', 'abhyāsaḥ': 'practice

• disciplined training', 'vardhayitavyaḥ': 'should be increased/strengthened', 'bhūtalam': 'the earth

• the terrestrial world', 'vastu': 'thing

• object', 'adhīna': 'dependent on

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Brahmin (brāhmaṇa)
• Kshatriya (kṣatriya)
• Sandhyā-vandana
• Tarpaṇa
• Weapons/arms (śastra)
• Earth (bhūtala)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma frames social stability as resting on two complementary disciplines: the brahmin’s daily purification and water-rites that sustain sacred order, and the kshatriya’s continual training in arms that sustains protection and rule. Together they uphold what exists in the world.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction on rājadharma within the Śānti Parva (in the Mucukunda episode), he summarizes the respective obligations of brahmins and kshatriyas, emphasizing that worldly order depends on both ritual authority and protective power.