Shloka 2

Devanagari script

अनृतं तमसो रूप॑ तमसा नीयते हाथ: । तमोग्रस्ता न पश्यन्ति प्रकाशं तमसा55वृता:,असत्य अन्धकारका रूप है। वह मनुष्यको नीचे गिराता है। अज्ञानारन्धकारसे घिरे हुए मनुष्य तमोगुणसे ग्रस्त होकर ज्ञानके प्रकाशको नहीं देख पाते हैं

Transliteration

anṛtaṁ tamaso rūpaṁ tamasā nīyate hāthaḥ | tamograstā na paśyanti prakāśaṁ tamasāvṛtāḥ ||

Translation

バラドヴァージャは言った。「虚偽は闇の姿である。闇によって人は下へと引きずり落とされる。タマスに囚われ、無明に覆われた者は、真の知の光を見ることができない。」

Word by Word

अनृतम्falsehood, untruth

तमसःof darkness

रूपम्form, nature

तमसाby darkness

नीयतेis led, is carried

अधःdownwards, below

तमोग्रस्ताःseized by darkness

नnot

पश्यन्तिthey see

प्रकाशम्light, illumination

तमसाby darkness

वृताःcovered, enveloped

Speaker

भरद्वाज उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bharadvāja

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Falsehood (anṛta) is equated with darkness (tamas): it obscures discernment and pulls a person toward moral and spiritual decline. Only by removing tamas can one perceive the ‘light’—clarity, right knowledge, and dharmic understanding.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and inner discipline, Bharadvāja teaches about the psychological and ethical consequences of untruth: those dominated by tamas become unable to recognize or access the illumination of knowledge.