Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 10

Tapas-śreṣṭhatā: Anāśana as the Highest Austerity

Bhagīratha–Brahmā Saṃvāda

Devanagari script

यच्चावसं जाह्नवीतीरनित्य: शतं समास्तप्यमानस्तपो5हम्‌ । अदां च तत्रा श्वतरीसहस्रं नारीपुरं न च तेनाहमागाम्‌

Transliteration

yaccāvasaṁ jāhnavītīranityaḥ śataṁ samās tapyamānas tapo 'ham | adāṁ ca tatrāśvatarīsahasraṁ nārīpuraṁ na ca tenāham āgām ||

Translation

भगीरथ बोले—“मैंने जाह्नवी (गङ्गा) के तट पर नित्य निवास करते हुए सौ वर्षों तक घोर तप किया; और वहीं हजारों खच्चरियाँ तथा कन्याओं के समूह दान किये; परन्तु उस पुण्य-प्रभाव से भी मैं यहाँ नहीं आया।”

Word by Word

• {'yad ca (yacca)': 'and even that which

• moreover', 'āvasaṁ': 'I dwelt, I resided', 'jāhnavī': 'the river Gaṅgā (so called as daughter of Jahnu)', 'tīra': 'bank, shore', 'nityaḥ': 'constantly, always', 'śatam': 'a hundred', 'samāḥ (samās)': 'years', 'tapyamānaḥ': 'performing austerity

• being engaged in tapas', 'tapaḥ': 'austerity, ascetic discipline', 'aham': 'I', 'adām': 'I gave (in charity)', 'tatra': 'there', 'aśvatarī': 'she-mule (female mule)', 'sahasram': 'a thousand

• thousands', 'nārī-puram': 'a multitude/group/host of women (maidens)', 'na ca': 'and yet not', 'tena': 'by that

• through that (merit)', 'āgām': 'I came

Speaker

भगीरथ उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhagīratha
• Jāhnavī (Gaṅgā)
• river bank (tīra)
• aśvatarī (she-mules)
• nārīpura (groups of maidens/women)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhagīratha emphasizes that even great tapas and lavish dāna do not automatically guarantee the highest spiritual outcome; external merit alone is not the decisive cause, implying the need for deeper inner virtue, right intention, or a higher principle of dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhagīratha recounts his long residence on the Gaṅgā’s bank, his hundred-year austerity, and his extensive gifts (thousands of she-mules and groups of maidens), then states that despite such merit he did not attain his present state by that alone—setting up a discussion on what truly leads to the intended spiritual result.