Shloka 22

Janamejaya’s Appeal for Pacification and Śaunaka’s Counsel on Humility (जनमेजय-शौनक संवादः)

Devanagari script

कुरुष्वानुग्रहं सौम्य सत्यमेतद्‌ ब्रवीमि ते । निश्चिता खलु मे बुद्धिरतिथिप्रतिपूजने

Transliteration

kuruṣvānugrahaṃ saumya satyam etad bravīmi te | niścitā khalu me buddhir atithipratipūjane ||

Translation

ಓ ಸೌಮ್ಯನೇ! ನನ್ನ ಮೇಲೆ ಅನುಗ್ರಹ ಮಾಡು; ನಿನಗೆ ನಾನು ಸತ್ಯವನ್ನೇ ಹೇಳುತ್ತೇನೆ. ಅತಿಥಿಯನ್ನು ಯಥಾವಿಧಿಯಾಗಿ ಪೂಜಿಸಿ ಸತ್ಕರಿಸುವುದರಲ್ಲಿ ನನ್ನ ಬುದ್ಧಿ ದೃಢವಾಗಿದೆ. ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ಇಂದು ನಾನು ಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠ ಅತಿಥಿ-ಸತ್ಕಾರವನ್ನು ಮಾಡುವೆನೆಂದು ನಿಶ್ಚಯಿಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ—ನನ್ನನ್ನೇ ಸ್ವೀಕರಿಸಿ ನನ್ನ ಮೇಲೆ ಕೃಪೆ ತೋರಿಸು. ಇದೇ ನಾನು ನಿನಗೆ ಹೇಳುವ ಸತ್ಯವಚನ.

Word by Word

• {'kuruṣva': 'do

• perform (imperative, 2nd person singular)', 'anugraham': 'favor, grace, compassionate acceptance', 'saumya': 'gentle one

• courteous address to a respected person', 'satyam': 'truth

• what is true', 'etat': 'this (statement/matter)', 'bravīmi': 'I say

• I declare', 'te': 'to you', 'niścitā': 'determined

• firmly resolved', 'khalu': 'indeed

• certainly (emphatic particle)', 'me': 'my

• of me', 'buddhiḥ': 'intention, resolve, settled understanding', 'atithi': 'guest

• one who arrives without a fixed appointment', 'pratipūjane': 'in honoring/revering

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• atithi (guest)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse upholds atithi-dharma: honoring a guest is a serious ethical obligation, to be undertaken with firm resolve and truthfulness. Hospitality is presented not as mere courtesy but as a dharmic act requiring sincerity and commitment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma addresses someone respectfully as “saumya,” asking for compassionate acceptance. He states that he has firmly decided to perform proper guest-honoring, and urges the listener to accept him—framing his request within the moral duty of receiving and honoring an atithi.