Shloka 79

Devanagari script

षाड्गुण्यगुणसारैषा स्थास्यत्यग्रे महात्मसु । धर्मार्थकाममोक्षाश्ष सकला ह्वात्र शब्दिता:,“यह विद्या संधि-विग्रह आदि छहों गुणोंका सारभूत है। महात्माओंमें इसका स्थान सबसे आगे होगा। इस शास्त्रमें धर्म, अर्थ, काम और मोक्ष--इन चारों पुरुषार्थोका निरूपण किया गया है”

Transliteration

ṣāḍguṇyaguṇasāraiṣā sthāsyaty agre mahātmasu | dharmārthakāmamokṣāś ca sakalā hy atra śabditāḥ ||

Translation

ビーシュマは言った。「この教えは六策—和（同盟）、戦、進軍、駐留、依託（庇護を求めること）、そして二重の策—の精髄である。大いなる魂をもつ者たちの中で、これが最も先に立つであろう。この論書には、人の四つの目的—ダルマ、アルタ（繁栄）、カーマ（正当な欲求）、モークシャ（解脱）—がことごとく説き明かされている。」

Word by Word

षाड्गुण्यगुणसारैषाthis (science) which is the essence of the sixfold policy/qualities

स्थास्यतिwill stand / will remain

अग्रेin front / foremost

महात्मसुamong great-souled persons

धर्मार्थकाममोक्षाःdharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa (the four aims of life)

सकलाःall / entire

अत्रhere / in this (treatise)

शब्दिताःare stated / are expounded

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma praises a śāstra/vidyā as supreme because it distills the essence of ṣāḍguṇya (six strategic policies of governance) while also encompassing the complete framework of the four puruṣārthas—dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa—showing that effective rule and ethical-spiritual aims should be integrated.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on kingship and right conduct after the war. Here he highlights the authority and comprehensiveness of a teaching on policy and human goals, presenting it as foremost among the wise and as a guide for both governance and life’s ultimate purposes.