Shloka 8

Brāhmaṇa-vandana: Criteria for Veneration, Disciplined Speech, and Protective Kingship (अनुशासनपर्व, अध्याय ८)

Devanagari script

ये चापि तेषां श्रोतार: सदा सदसि सम्मता: । विज्ञानगुणसम्पन्नास्ते भ्य श्ष॒ स्पृहयाम्यहम्‌,जो प्रतिदिन उन महात्माओंकी बातें सुनते हैं, वे श्रोता विज्ञानगुणसे सम्पन्न हो सभाओंमें सम्मानित होते हैं। मैं ऐसे श्रोताओंकी भी चाह रखता हूँ इति श्रीमहाभारते अनुशासनपर्वणि दानधर्मपर्वणि अष्टमो5ध्याय:

Transliteration

ye cāpi teṣāṃ śrotāraḥ sadā sadasi sammatāḥ | vijñāna-guṇa-sampannās tebhyaḥ spṛhayāmy aham ||

Translation

ભીષ્મે કહ્યું—અને તેમના શ्रोतાઓ પણ—જે દરરોજ તે મહાત્માઓની વાતો સાંભળે છે—તેઓ પણ વિવેક અને ગુણોથી સમ્પન્ન બની સદા સભાઓમાં માન પામે છે. એવા શ्रोतાઓ પ્રત્યે પણ મને આદર અને આકાંક્ષા છે.

Word by Word

• {'ye': 'those who', 'ca api': 'and also', 'teṣām': 'of them (of those great-souled ones)', 'śrotāraḥ': 'listeners, hearers', 'sadā': 'always, continually', 'sadasi': 'in the assembly, in a council/learned gathering (locative of sadas)', 'sammataḥ': 'approved, respected, held in esteem', 'vijñāna': 'discernment, understanding, practical wisdom', 'guṇa': 'virtue, good quality, excellence', 'sampanna': 'endowed with, possessed of', 'tebhyaḥ': 'towards/for them (dative/ablative plural: ‘for such people’)', 'spṛhayāmi': 'I desire, I long for, I admire', 'aham': 'I'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• sadas (assembly)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma praises not only the teachers of dharma but also the attentive listeners: regular, respectful hearing cultivates discernment (vijñāna) and virtues (guṇa), earning honor in learned assemblies.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma, he turns to commend the audience itself—those who continually attend and listen to the words of the wise—saying he values and aspires toward such exemplary hearers.