Shloka 19

Śuka–Janaka Saṃvāda: Āśrama-krama, Jñāna-vijñāna, and the Marks of Liberation (शुक-जनक संवादः)

Devanagari script

शौचमार्जवमाचारमलौल्यं हृद्यसम्भ्रम: | इष्टानिष्टवियोगानां कृतानामविकत्थना

Transliteration

yājñavalkya uvāca | śaucam ārjavam ācāram alaulyaṁ hṛdya-sambhramaḥ | iṣṭāniṣṭa-viyogānāṁ kṛtānām avikatthanā dhairyam ānandaḥ prītiḥ utkarṣaḥ prakāśaḥ (jñāna-śaktiḥ) sukhaṁ śuddhir ārogyaṁ santoṣaḥ śraddhā akāpaṇyam asaṁrambhaḥ kṣamā dhṛtir ahiṁsā samatā satyam ṛṇa-rahitatā mṛdutā lajjā acaṁcalatā śaucaṁ saralatā sadācāraḥ alolupatā hṛdaye sambhramasya abhāvaḥ iṣṭa-an-iṣṭa-viyogasya akīrtanam dānena dhairya-dhāraṇam akāmata paropakāraḥ sarva-bhūteṣu dayā ca—ete sarve sattva-sambandhino guṇāḥ proktāḥ |

Translation

याज्ञवल्क्य बोले—शौच, सरलता, सदाचार, अलोलुपता और हृदय में सम्भ्रम का न होना; तथा प्रिय-अप्रिय के वियोग में भी अपने कृत्यों का बखान न करना—ये सत्त्व के गुण हैं।

Word by Word

• शौचम्: purity/cleanliness
• शौचम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शौच
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• आर्जवम्: straightforwardness
• आर्जवम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: आर्जव
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• आचारः: good conduct
• आचारः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: आचार
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अलौल्यम्: absence of greed/restlessness
• अलौल्यम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अलौल्यम्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• हृद्यसम्भ्रमः: agitation/perturbation of the heart
• हृद्यसम्भ्रमः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: हृद्य-सम्भ्रम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• इष्टानिष्टवियोगानाम्: of separations from the desired and undesired
• इष्टानिष्टवियोगानाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: इष्ट-अनिष्ट-वियोग
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• कृतानाम्: that have occurred/been done
• कृतानाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृत
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• अविकत्थना: non-boasting
• अविकत्थना: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अ-विकत्थना
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

याज़्वल्क्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yājñavalkya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse enumerates sattva-based virtues—purity, honesty, calmness, non-violence, truth, contentment, compassion, and desirelessness—presenting an ethical profile of a clear and harmonious mind that supports dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the didactic setting of Śānti Parva, Yājñavalkya is instructing by classifying moral and psychological traits; here he identifies the qualities that belong to sattva, contrasting them implicitly with rajasic and tamasic tendencies.