Shloka 20

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

Devanagari script

शुश्रूषां सततं कुर्वन्‌ गुरो: सम्प्रणमेत च । षट्कर्मसु निवृत्तश्न न प्रवृत्तश्न सर्वश:

Transliteration

śuśrūṣāṃ satataṃ kurvan guroḥ saṃpraṇameta ca | ṣaṭkarmasu nivṛttaś ca na pravṛttaś ca sarvaśaḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma berkata—“Hendaknya ia senantiasa melayani gurunya dan bersujud kepadanya dengan hormat yang semestinya. Hendaknya ia menjauh dari enam pekerjaan yang berorientasi nafkah—melakukan yajña dan memimpin yajña bagi orang lain, belajar dan mengajar, memberi dan menerima pemberian—dan janganlah ia, dengan cara apa pun, terlibat dalam adharma.”

Word by Word

• {'śuśrūṣā': 'attentive service

• devoted attendance (especially to a teacher/elder)', 'satatam': 'constantly

• always', 'kurvan': 'doing

• performing', 'guroḥ': 'of the guru/teacher', 'saṃpraṇameta': 'should bow

• should offer respectful obeisance', 'ca': 'and', 'ṣaṭ-karmasu': 'in the six acts/occupations (the sixfold set of duties often linked with Brahmin livelihood)', 'nivṛttaḥ': 'withdrawn

• abstaining', 'na': 'not', 'pravṛttaḥ': 'engaged

• involved', 'sarvaśaḥ': 'in every way

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• guru (teacher)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Continuous reverent service to one’s teacher and strict ethical restraint: avoid livelihood-driven religious/academic transactions (the six occupations) and never participate in adharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma lays down a rule of conduct for a disciplined seeker/student: humility before the guru, withdrawal from certain professionalized ritual/learning exchanges, and total avoidance of unrighteous acts.