Shloka 49

Devanagari script

गुरुतल्पमधिष्ठाय दुरात्मा पापचेतन: । स्त्रयाकारां प्रतिमां लिंग्य मृत्युना सोडभिशुद्धयति,पापपूर्ण विचार रखनेवाला दुरात्मा पुरुष यदि गुरुपत्नीगगमनका पाप कर बैठे तो वह लोहेकी गरम की हुई नारी-प्रतिमाका आलिड्नन करके प्राण दे देनेपर ही उस पापसे शुद्ध होता है

Transliteration

Bhīṣma uvāca: gurutalpam adhiṣṭhāya durātmā pāpacetanaḥ | striy-ākārāṃ pratimāṃ liṅgya mṛtyunā so ’bhiśuddhyati ||

Translation

ಭೀಷ್ಮನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ಗುರುವಿನ ಶಯನವನ್ನು ಲಂಘಿಸಿದ (ಗುರುಪತ್ನೀಗಮನ ಮಾಡಿದ) ಪಾಪಬುದ್ಧಿಯ ದುಷ್ಟನು, ಸ್ತ್ರೀಆಕಾರದ ಕೆಂಪಗೆ ಬಿಸಿಯಾದ ಕಬ್ಬಿಣದ ಪ್ರತಿಮೆಯನ್ನು ಅಪ್ಪಿಕೊಂಡು, ಅದರಿಂದ ಪ್ರಾಣತ್ಯಾಗ ಮಾಡಿದಾಗಲೇ ಆ ಪಾಪದಿಂದ ಶುದ್ಧನಾಗುತ್ತಾನೆ.

Word by Word

गुरुतल्पम्the teacher’s bed (i.e., the guru’s wife/bed of the guru)

अधिष्ठायhaving approached/committed (lit. having mounted/occupied)

दुरात्माa wicked man

पापचेतनःof sinful mind

स्त्रियाकाराम्having the form of a woman

प्रतिमाम्an image/statue

लिङ्ग्यhaving embraced

मृत्युनाby death

सःhe

उद्भिशुद्ध्यतिis purified/gets purified

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

guru (teacher)

guru’s wife (implied by gurutalpa)

woman-shaped effigy (pratimā)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse stresses that violating the guru’s marital sanctity (gurutalpa) is among the gravest dharma-transgressions, and it frames purification as requiring an extreme, life-ending expiation—highlighting the seriousness of the offense and the ideal of uncompromising moral accountability.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s dharma instruction, Bhishma is describing prāyaścitta (expiatory discipline). Here he states a specific, severe expiation for the sin of approaching the guru’s bed—embracing a woman-shaped effigy (understood as heated iron) and dying, which is said to cleanse the sin.