Shanti Parva Adhyaya 237 Shloka 15 - Mahabharata | Japanese | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 15

भिक्षुलक्षणम्—एकचर्याः, अहिंसा, कैवल्याश्रमः

Marks of the Mendicant: Solitary Wandering, Non-Injury, and the Kaivalya-Discipline

Devanagari script

पार्थिवानि द्वयान्याहुर्मध्यमान्यधमानि तु । मध्यमानि विशिष्टानि जातिधर्मोपधारणात्‌

Transliteration

pārthivāni dvayāny āhur madhyamāny adhamāni tu | madhyamāni viśiṣṭāni jātidharmopadhāraṇāt ||

Translation

ヴィヤーサは言った。「人のうちには大きく二つが語られる—中ほどの正しき者と、卑しき者である。中ほどの者が卑しき者に勝るとされるのは、自らの身分と共同体にふさわしい務めと規範（jāti-dharma）を保つからである。」

Word by Word

पार्थिवानिkings / men (lit. earthly ones)

द्वयानिtwofold / of two kinds

आहुःthey say / have said

मध्यमानिmiddling / medium (class)

अधमानिlowest / base (class)

तुbut / and

मध्यमानिthe middling ones

विशिष्टानिdistinguished / superior

जाति-धर्म-उपधारणात्because of upholding the duties of one’s class (jati-dharma)

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

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?

Human beings are ethically distinguished by conduct: those who uphold the duties and norms appropriate to their station (jāti-dharma) are ‘madhyama’ and are considered superior to those who neglect such obligations and become ‘adhama’.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa offers a moral classification of people, contrasting the ‘middling/proper’ with the ‘base,’ and grounds the distinction in adherence to prescribed dharma.