Shloka 5
पापात्म-धर्मात्म-लक्षणम् तथा निर्वेदेन मोक्षमार्गः | Marks of the Sinful and the Righteous; Dispassion (Nirveda) as a Path to Liberation
चिरं स चिन्तयत्यर्थश्रिरं जाग्रच्चिरं स्वपन् । चिरं कार्याभिपत्तिं च चिरकारी तथोच्यते
ciraṃ sa cintayaty arthaśrīraṃ jāgrac ciraṃ svapan | ciraṃ kāryābhipattiṃ ca cirakārī tathocyate ||
भीष्म बोले—“वह लाभ-हानि आदि विषयों पर बहुत देर तक विचार करता; बहुत देर तक जागता और बहुत देर तक सोता; और दीर्घ विलम्ब के बाद ही अपने कार्यों को पूर्ण करता। इसी कारण लोग उसे ‘चिरकारी’—जो देर से करता है—कहने लगे।”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse characterizes a person whose habitual slowness—extended thinking, wakefulness, sleep, and delayed completion of tasks—becomes a defining ethical trait, illustrating how repeated conduct turns into reputation and name.
Bhishma describes someone known for long delays in thought and action; because he completes work only after much time, people give him the epithet ‘Cirakārī’ (“late-acting”).