Shloka 17

Varṇāśrama-ācāra and Vikarma: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry on Safe Dharmas (शिवधर्मप्रश्नः)

Devanagari script

तस्य देहपरित्यागादिष्टा: कामाक्षया मता: । आनन्त्यायोपतिष्ठ न्ति सर्वतो$क्षिशिरोमुखा:

Transliteration

tasya deha-parityāgād iṣṭāḥ kāmākṣayā matāḥ | ānantyāyopatiṣṭhanti sarvato 'kṣi-śiro-mukhāḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma berkata—setelah sang gṛhastha menanggalkan tubuhnya, tujuan-tujuan yang ia anggap “tak musnah” tercapai tanpa berkurang sedikit pun. Mengetahui tekad orang itu, hasil-hasil yang diinginkan itu berdiri siap melayaninya untuk masa tanpa akhir, seakan-akan mata, kepala, dan wajah mereka menghadap ke segala penjuru.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'deha-parityāga', 'definition': 'abandoning the body

• death (as departure from embodied life)'}, {'term': 'iṣṭa', 'definition': 'desired, cherished, approved (aims or objects)'}, {'term': 'kāma', 'definition': 'wish, desire

• intended aim'}, {'term': 'akṣaya', 'definition': 'imperishable, inexhaustible, undiminishing'}, {'term': 'mata', 'definition': 'considered, held to be

• deemed'}, {'term': 'ānantya', 'definition': 'endlessness, eternity'}, {'term': 'upatiṣṭhanti', 'definition': 'they stand near

• present themselves in service'}, {'term': 'sarvataḥ', 'definition': 'from all sides

• in every direction'}, {'term': 'akṣi-śiras-mukha', 'definition': 'having eyes, head, and face (turned)

• metaphor for all-directional attentiveness'}, {'term': 'gṛhastha', 'definition': 'householder (second āśrama), one who sustains society through duty and generosity'}]

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• gṛhastha (householder)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma teaches that a householder’s righteous intentions and well-formed aims, grounded in dharma, yield undiminishing results beyond death; the ‘desired ends’ are portrayed as faithfully attending the person, emphasizing the lasting efficacy of dharmic resolve and conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīṣma continues describing the fruits of proper gṛhastha-dharma: when such a person dies, the outcomes of his intended righteous pursuits are said to become inexhaustible and to ‘stand by’ him perpetually, depicted through the vivid image of all-directional faces and eyes.