Shloka 216

अहिंसा-प्रधान धर्मविचारः

Ahiṃsā as the Superior Dharma: Practical and Scriptural Reasoning

Devanagari script

तत्र वायुजलाहारा चचार नियम पुन: । नृपश्रेष्ठ तदनन्तर वह कन्या कौशिकी नदीके तटपर गयी। वहाँ वायु और जलका आहार करके उसने पुनः कठोर नियमोंका पालन किया

Transliteration

tatra vāyu-jalāhārā cacāra niyamaḥ punaḥ | nṛpaśreṣṭha tad-anantaraṃ sā kanyā kauśikī-nadīke taṭaparaṃ gatā |

Translation

वहाँ वह वायु और जल का आहार करके फिर से कठोर नियमों का पालन करने लगी। तत्पश्चात्, हे नृपश्रेष्ठ! वह कन्या कौशिकी नदी के तट पर गई और वहाँ भी वायु-जल का आहार लेकर पुनः घोर नियमों का अनुष्ठान करती रही।

Word by Word

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र
• Form: indeclinable (locative adverb)

• वायु-जल-आहारा: one whose food is air and water
• वायु-जल-आहारा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: आहार
• Form: feminine, nominative, singular

• चचार: practised / observed / moved about
• Type: Verb
• Root: चर्
• Form: perfect, 3rd person, singular (parasmaipada)

• नियमम्: vow, restraint, observance
• नियमम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: नियम
• Form: masculine, accusative, singular

• पुनः: again
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः
• Form: indeclinable

Speaker

पितामह उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Pitāmaha (Bhīṣma)
• nṛpaśreṣṭha (the king being addressed, traditionally Yudhiṣṭhira)
• kanyā (the maiden)
• Kauśikī river

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the dharmic value of niyama and tapas—disciplined self-regulation and austerity—as a means of moral strength and spiritual steadiness. Living on minimal sustenance (air and water) symbolizes mastery over desire and perseverance in a chosen vow.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma describes a maiden who resumes severe observances, taking only air and water as sustenance. Afterward she goes to the bank of the Kauśikī river, where she continues her rigorous discipline.