Shloka 99

Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment

Parāśara’s Instruction

Devanagari script

सहस्राध्मातघण्टाय घण्टामालाप्रियाय च । प्राणघण्टाय गन्धाय नम: कलकलाय च

Transliteration

sahasrādhmātaghaṇṭāya ghaṇṭāmālāpriyāya ca | prāṇaghaṇṭāya gandhāya namaḥ kalakalāya ca ||

Translation

ビーシュマは言った。千たび吹き鳴らされたかのように鐘が轟く御方に敬礼する。鈴の花鬘を愛する御方に敬礼する。命そのものの鐘—内なる生命の響き—である御方に敬礼する。芳香なる臨在に敬礼する。そして、その音がやわらかくさざめく「カラカラ（kalakala）」である御方に敬礼する。

Word by Word

• सहस्राध्मातघण्टाय: to the (one) having a bell blown a thousand times / to the thousand-blown bell
• सहस्राध्मातघण्टाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहस्राध्मातघण्टा
• Form: Feminine, Dative, Singular

• घण्टामालाप्रियाय: to (her) who is fond of a garland of bells
• घण्टामालाप्रियाय: Sampradana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घण्टामालाप्रिया
• Form: Feminine, Dative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• प्राणघण्टाय: to the life-bell / vital bell
• प्राणघण्टाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राणघण्टा
• Form: Feminine, Dative, Singular

• गन्धाय: to fragrance
• गन्धाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: गन्ध
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• नमः: salutation
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नमस्

• कलकलाय: to the tinkling/clamorous sound
• कलकलाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कलकल
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• ghaṇṭā (bell)
• ghaṇṭāmālā (garland of bells)
• prāṇa (life-breath)
• gandha (fragrance)
• kalakala (tinkling/murmur sound)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches devotional recollection through auspicious attributes—especially sacred sound (bells, tinkling resonance) and fragrance—suggesting that steady attention to such divine markers refines the mind and supports dharmic clarity.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction-oriented setting, Bhīṣma speaks in a hymn-like mode, offering a sequence of salutations that praise the divine through evocative epithets centered on bell-sound and fragrance.