Shloka 144

Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)

Devanagari script

स्नाह्मालभ पिब प्राश जुहुध्यग्नीन्‌ यजेत्यपि । ब्रवीहि शृूणु चापीति विवश: कार्यते परै:

Transliteration

snāhi mālabha piba prāśa juhudhy agnīn yajety api | brūhi śṛṇu cāpīti vivaśaḥ kāryate paraiḥ ||

Translation

ビーシュマは言った。「『沐浴せよ、油を塗らせよ、水を飲め、食せよ、供物を注げ、火供（アグニホートラ）に励め、語れ、そして聞け』——このような言葉を繰り返し浴びせて、人々は王をして行わせる。王の自由を奪い、定められた作法と公の務めへと押し込むのだ。」

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'snāhi', 'meaning': 'bathe (imperative)'}, {'term': 'mālabha (mā + alabha)', 'meaning': 'have oil/unguent applied

• anoint yourself (imperative sense)'}, {'term': 'piba', 'meaning': 'drink (imperative)'}, {'term': 'prāśa', 'meaning': 'eat

• partake of food (imperative)'}, {'term': 'juhudhi', 'meaning': 'offer oblations

• pour into the fire (imperative)'}, {'term': 'agnīn', 'meaning': 'the sacred fires (especially household/ritual fires)'}, {'term': 'yajet', 'meaning': 'he should sacrifice

• perform worship/ritual (optative/vidhi sense)'}, {'term': 'brūhi', 'meaning': 'speak

• say (imperative)'}, {'term': 'śṛṇu', 'meaning': 'listen

• hear (imperative)'}, {'term': 'vivaśaḥ', 'meaning': 'helpless

• not acting freely'}, {'term': 'kāryate', 'meaning': 'is made to do

• is caused to act'}, {'term': 'paraiḥ', 'meaning': 'by others

Speaker

भीष्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• king (rājā, implied addressee)
• sacred fires (agnīḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma highlights how a ruler’s agency can be eroded by constant directives from attendants, priests, and courtiers. The ethical point is that governance requires inner autonomy and discernment; otherwise, even ‘dutiful’ actions become mere compliance under pressure.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction on royal conduct in the Shanti Parva, he describes the king’s daily life being filled with commands—bathe, anoint, eat, perform offerings, speak and listen—so that the king is driven by others’ expectations and ritual schedules rather than acting freely.