Shloka 21

Śakra–Namuci-saṃvāda: Śoka-nivāraṇa and Daiva-vicāra

Indra and Namuci on grief, composure, and inevitability

Devanagari script

हस्तौ कर्मेन्द्रियं ज्ेयमथ पादौ गतीन्द्रियम्‌ । प्रजनानन्दयो: शेफो निसर्ग पायुरिन्द्रियम्‌,दोनों हाथोंको काम करनेवाली इन्द्रिय जानना चाहिये, दोनों पैर चलने-फिरनेका काम करनेवाली इन्द्रिय हैं। लिंग संतानोत्पादन एवं मैथुनजनित आनन्दकी प्राप्ति करनेके लिये है। गुदनामक इन्द्रियका कार्य मल-त्याग करना है

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | hastau karmendriyaṃ jñeyam atha pādau gatīndriyam | prajanānandayoḥ śepho nisargaḥ pāyur indriyam ||

Translation

ビーシュマは言った。両手は行為の器官と知れ、両足は移動を成り立たせる器官である。男根は子をもうけ、また交合より生ずる快楽を得るためにあり、肛門はその自然の働きとして糞を排する器官である。

Word by Word

• {'hastau': 'the two hands', 'karmendriyam': 'organ of action

• faculty by which actions are performed', 'jñeyam': 'should be known/understood', 'atha': 'and then

• moreover', 'pādau': 'the two feet', 'gatīndriyam': 'organ/faculty of locomotion (movement)', 'prajana': 'procreation

• begetting offspring', 'ānanda': 'pleasure

• enjoyment', 'prajānandayoḥ': 'of procreation and pleasure (dual genitive)', 'śephaḥ': 'penis

• generative organ', 'nisargaḥ': 'natural function

• innate activity', 'pāyuḥ': 'anus', 'indriyam': 'sense-organ/faculty

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

It classifies bodily organs by their functions—hands for action, feet for movement, the generative organ for procreation and sexual pleasure, and the anus for excretion—supporting ethical self-discipline through clear knowledge of the senses and their proper roles.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva instruction, Bhishma continues his didactic exposition to the listener, explaining the functional nature of the body’s faculties (indriyas) as part of a broader teaching on conduct, restraint, and understanding of embodied life.