Shloka 101
ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
Devanagari script
उच्छाया विनिपातान्ता भावो5भाव: स एव च
Transliteration
ucchāyā vinipātāntā bhāvo 'bhāvaḥ sa eva ca
Translation
ビーシュマは言った。「立ち上がるものはすべて、やがて倒れる運命にある。存在と非存在は、究極の帰結においては真に同じである。」
Word by Word
उच्छायाshadow (lit. raised/extended shadow)
उच्छाया:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootउच्छाया
FormFeminine, Nominative, Singular
विनिपातान्ताending in a fall/downfall; having downfall as its end
विनिपातान्ता:
Karta
TypeAdjective
Rootविनिपातान्त
FormFeminine, Nominative, Singular
भावःexistence; becoming; state of being
भावः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootभाव
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
अभावःnon-existence; absence
अभावः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootअभाव
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
सःthat; he/it
सः:
Karta
TypePronoun
Rootतद्
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
एवindeed; just; only
एव:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootएव
चand
च:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootच
Speaker
भीष्म उवाच
Characters & Entities
B
BhīṣmaCharacter Dynamics
Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)
War Context
Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)
Philosophical Teaching
Political Layer
Geographic Context
Meter (Chandas)
Sandhi Notes
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma emphasizes impermanence: whatever ascends or prospers inevitably ends in decline. Seeing that both ‘being’ and ‘non-being’ culminate in the same end supports vairāgya (detachment) and steadiness in dharma amid changing fortunes.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and the foundations of peace after the war. This line functions as a reflective maxim within that instruction, steering the listener away from pride in success and despair in loss.