Shloka 71

Devanagari script

निबन्धनी रज्जुरेषा या ग्रामे वसतो रति: । छित्त्वैतां सुकृतो यान्ति नैनां छिन्दन्ति दुष्कृत:,मनुष्य जब गाँवमें रहकर वहींके पदार्थोंसे प्रेम करने लगता है, वह उसे बाँधनेवाली रस्सी ही है। पुण्यात्मा लोग इसे काटकर उत्तम लोकोंमें चले जाते हैं, परंतु पापात्मा पुरुष इसे नहीं काट पाते हैं

Transliteration

nibandhanī rajjur eṣā yā grāme vasato ratiḥ | chittvaitāṃ sukṛto yānti naināṃ chindanti duṣkṛtaḥ ||

Translation

Vyāsa bersabda: Inilah tali pengikat: keterikatan yang timbul pada orang yang tinggal di desa dan jatuh cinta pada benda-benda yang ada di sana. Orang berbudi memotong tali itu lalu berangkat ke alam yang lebih luhur; tetapi orang berdosa tidak berhasil memotongnya.

Word by Word

निबन्धनीbinding (female) / that which binds

रज्जुःrope

एषाthis

याwhich

ग्रामेin the village

वसतःof (one) dwelling

रतिःattachment, delight

छित्त्वाhaving cut

एताम्this (one) / this (rope/attachment)

सुकृतःvirtuous (men), doers of good

यान्तिgo

नnot

एताम्this (one)

छिन्दन्तिcut

दुष्कृताःsinful (men), doers of evil

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

grāma (village)

rajju (rope)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Attachment to one’s immediate worldly environment—symbolized by ‘the village’ and its objects—functions like a rope that binds the soul. Ethical purity and disciplined living enable one to cut this bond and attain higher states, whereas wrongdoing and indulgence keep one unable to sever attachment.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa delivers a moral-metaphysical instruction using a simple metaphor: people living in ordinary social life become bound by affection for local possessions and pleasures; the virtuous transcend this attachment, while the sinful remain entangled.