Shloka 22

Janamejaya’s Appeal for Pacification and Śaunaka’s Counsel on Humility (जनमेजय-शौनक संवादः)

Devanagari script

कुरुष्वानुग्रहं सौम्य सत्यमेतद्‌ ब्रवीमि ते । निश्चिता खलु मे बुद्धिरतिथिप्रतिपूजने

Transliteration

kuruṣvānugrahaṃ saumya satyam etad bravīmi te | niścitā khalu me buddhir atithipratipūjane ||

Translation

हे सौम्य! मुझ पर अनुग्रह कीजिए; मैं आपसे सत्य कहता हूँ। अतिथि की यथोचित पूजा करने में मेरी बुद्धि दृढ़ हो चुकी है। इसलिए आज मैंने उत्तम अतिथि-सत्कार करने का निश्चय किया है—आप मुझे ही स्वीकार करें और मुझ पर कृपा करें। यही सत्य वचन मैं आपसे कहता हूँ।

Word by Word

• {'kuruṣva': 'do

• perform (imperative, 2nd person singular)', 'anugraham': 'favor, grace, compassionate acceptance', 'saumya': 'gentle one

• courteous address to a respected person', 'satyam': 'truth

• what is true', 'etat': 'this (statement/matter)', 'bravīmi': 'I say

• I declare', 'te': 'to you', 'niścitā': 'determined

• firmly resolved', 'khalu': 'indeed

• certainly (emphatic particle)', 'me': 'my

• of me', 'buddhiḥ': 'intention, resolve, settled understanding', 'atithi': 'guest

• one who arrives without a fixed appointment', 'pratipūjane': 'in honoring/revering

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• atithi (guest)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse upholds atithi-dharma: honoring a guest is a serious ethical obligation, to be undertaken with firm resolve and truthfulness. Hospitality is presented not as mere courtesy but as a dharmic act requiring sincerity and commitment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma addresses someone respectfully as “saumya,” asking for compassionate acceptance. He states that he has firmly decided to perform proper guest-honoring, and urges the listener to accept him—framing his request within the moral duty of receiving and honoring an atithi.