Shloka 9

Śibi’s Weighing of Dharma

The Hawk and the Dove Trial) — शिबेर्धर्मतुला (श्येन-कपोतोक्तिः

Devanagari script

अत्र वै पुत्रशोकेन वसिष्ठो भगवानृषि: । बद्ध्वा55त्मानं निपतितो विपाश: पुनरुत्थित:,यह विष्णुपद नामवाला उत्तम तीर्थ दिखायी देता है तथा यह परम पावन और मनोरम विपाशा (व्यास) नदी है। यहीं भगवान्‌ वसिष्ठ मुनि पुत्रशोकसे पीड़ित हो अपने शरीरको पाशोंसे बाँधकर कूद पड़े थे, परंतु पुनः विपाश (पाशमुक्त) होकर जलसे बाहर निकल आये

Transliteration

atra vai putraśokena vasiṣṭho bhagavān ṛṣiḥ | baddhvā ātmānaṃ nipatito vipāśaḥ punar utthitaḥ ||

Translation

Here, the venerable sage Vasiṣṭha, overwhelmed by grief for his son, bound his own body with nooses and leapt into the river. Yet the river became ‘Vipāśā’—free from bonds—for him, and he rose up again, emerging from the waters. The episode underscores that even great seers may be shaken by sorrow, but a return to steadiness and life-affirming restraint is upheld as the higher course.

Word by Word

• {'atra': 'here, in this place', 'vai': 'indeed, certainly (emphatic particle)', 'putra-śokena': 'through grief for a son

• because of sorrow over one’s son', 'vasiṣṭhaḥ': 'Vasiṣṭha (name of the sage)', 'bhagavān': 'venerable, holy, possessed of spiritual excellence', 'ṛṣiḥ': 'seer, sage', 'baddhvā': 'having bound, having tied', 'ātmānam': 'himself

• his own body/self', 'nipatitaḥ': 'having fallen/leapt down

• plunged', 'pāśa': 'noose, bond, snare', 'vipāśā': 'Vipāśā (river-name

• etymologically ‘free from bonds/nooses’)', 'punar': 'again', 'utthitaḥ': 'risen up

Speaker

लोगश उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vasiṣṭha
• Vipāśā (river)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights that intense grief can overwhelm even a great sage, yet the higher ethical ideal is to rise again—returning to composure and restraint rather than yielding to self-destruction.

What is happening in the narrative?

The sage Vasiṣṭha, stricken by sorrow for his son, binds himself with nooses and plunges into the river, but he comes up again—linking the river’s name Vipāśā with the idea of becoming ‘free from bonds.’