Shloka 88

Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment

Parāśara’s Instruction

Devanagari script

नमो नर्तनशीलाय मुखवादित्रवादिने । नाद्योपहारलुब्धाय गतिवादित्रशालिने

Transliteration

namo nartanaśīlāya mukhavāditravādine | nādyopahāralubdhāya gativāditraśāline ||

Translation

नित्य ताण्डव-नृत्य में प्रवृत्त, मुख से भी शृङ्गी आदि वाद्य बजाने में निपुण, नाद्य-उपहार (गीत-वाद्य सहित अर्पण) के प्रति सदा उत्सुक, और गति तथा वाद्य-विद्या से शोभायमान आपको नमस्कार है।

Word by Word

• नमः: salutation, homage
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नमस्
• Form: true

• नर्तनशीलाय: to the one whose nature is dancing
• नर्तनशीलाय: Sampradana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नर्तनशील
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• मुखवादित्रवादिने: to the player of mouth-instruments (wind instruments)
• मुखवादित्रवादिने: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुखवादित्रवादिन्
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• नाद्योपहारलुब्धाय: to the one eager/greedy for offerings of lotus-flowers
• नाद्योपहारलुब्धाय: Sampradana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नाद्योपहारलुब्ध
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• गतिवादित्रशालिने: to the one adorned with (skill in) song/dance and instruments
• गतिवादित्रशालिने: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: गतिवादित्रशालिन्
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• the praised deity (implicitly Śiva as Naṭarāja/Tāṇḍava-dancer)
• vāditra (musical instruments)
• upahāra (offerings)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Devotion can be expressed through disciplined arts—dance, rhythm, and music—when offered as worship. The verse values sincere offering and cultivated skill as a dharmic mode of reverence, turning aesthetic practice into spiritual homage.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma continues a hymn-like praise, saluting a deity characterized by perpetual dance and musical mastery, and describing the deity’s delight in offerings made through performance. It functions as devotional glorification within Bhīṣma’s broader instruction.