Shloka 83

Devanagari script

भगवानपि तच्छास्त्रं संचिक्षेप पुरंदर: | सहस्रै: पञ्चभिस्तात यदुक्त बाहुदन्‍तकम्‌,महातपस्वी सुब्रह्मण्य भगवान्‌ पुरन्दरने जब इसका अध्ययन किया, उस समय इसमें दस हजार अध्याय थे। फिर उन्होंने भी इसका संक्षेप किया, जिससे यह पाँच हजार अध्यायोंका ग्रन्थ हो गया। तात! वही ग्रन्थ “बाहुदनतक” नामक नीतिशास्त्रके रूपमें विख्यात हुआ

Transliteration

bhagavān api tacchāstraṃ saṃcikṣepa puraṃdaraḥ | sahasraiḥ pañcabhis tāta yad uktaṃ bāhudantakam ||

Translation

ភីෂ្មៈបានមានព្រះវាចា៖ សូម្បីតែព្រះបុរន្ទរ (ឥន្ទ្រ) ក៏បានកាត់សង្ខេបសាស្ត្រនោះដែរ។ កូនអើយ អ្វីដែលបានបង្រៀនជាគម្ពីរឈ្មោះ «បាហុដន្តក» ត្រូវបានបង្រួមឲ្យនៅសល់ត្រឹមប្រាំពាន់ផ្នែក ក្លាយជាសៀវភៅគោលនយោបាយ និងធម៌នៃការគ្រប់គ្រងដ៏មានអំណាច បង្ហាញសារសំខាន់ពីការបង្រៀនដ៏ធំទូលាយ។

Word by Word

• {'bhagavān': 'the venerable/lordly one

• an honorific for a divine or exalted person', 'api': 'also, even', 'tat-śāstram': 'that treatise

• that authoritative text on policy/ethics', 'saṃcikṣepa': 'abridged, condensed, made a compendium', 'puraṃdaraḥ': 'Purandara

• epithet of Indra, ‘destroyer of cities/forts’', 'sahasraiḥ pañcabhiḥ': 'with five thousands

• consisting of five thousand (units/chapters/sections)', 'tāta': 'dear one/child

• affectionate address', 'yad uktam': 'which was spoken/taught

• that which was expounded', 'bāhudantakam': 'Bāhudantaka

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Purandara (Indra)
• Bāhudantaka (nītiśāstra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Authoritative guidance on ethical governance (nīti) is preserved and made usable through careful condensation; even divine authorities like Indra are portrayed as editors who distill vast instruction into practical compendia for rulers.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma’s instruction during Śānti Parva, he recounts the transmission history of a political-ethical treatise: Indra (Purandara) condensed ‘that śāstra’ into a five-thousand-section work known as Bāhudantaka, emphasizing its recognized status as a nītiśāstra.