Shloka 56

Devanagari script

सतां साप्तपदं मैत्रं स सखा मे5सि पण्डित: । सांवास्यकं करिष्यामि नास्ति ते भयमद्य वै

Transliteration

satāṁ sāptapadaṁ maitraṁ sa sakhā me ’si paṇḍitaḥ | sāṁvāsyakaṁ kariṣyāmi nāsti te bhayam adya vai ||

Translation

ビーシュマは言った。「徳ある者の間では、ただ七歩を共に歩めば友誼は結ばれる。ましてや、そなたと私はここで久しく寄り添って暮らしてきたのだ。そなたは我が学識ある友である。共に住まった者に対する友の務めを、私は必ず果たそう。ゆえに今日より、そなたは何も恐れることはない。」

Word by Word

• {'satām': 'of the good/virtuous people', 'sāptapadam': 'the ‘seven-step’ (bond)

• taking seven steps together as a sign of firm companionship', 'maitram': 'friendship, amity', 'sakhā': 'friend, companion', 'me': 'to me, my', 'asi': 'you are', 'paṇḍitaḥ': 'learned, wise person', 'sāṁvāsyakam': 'duty/obligation arising from living together

• hospitality and protection owed to a co-dweller/guest', 'kariṣyāmi': 'I shall do, I will perform', 'nāsti': 'there is not', 'te': 'for you, to you', 'bhayam': 'fear, danger', 'adya': 'today, from now', 'vai': 'indeed, certainly (emphatic particle)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True friendship among the virtuous is quickly established and then becomes a binding ethical obligation; one must honor the duties born of companionship—especially protection and reassurance—once a bond of shared life has formed.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma addresses someone he has been living with in close association, declares that their companionship itself has made them friends, and promises to uphold the obligations of that relationship, assuring the other person of safety and freedom from fear.