Shanti Parva Adhyaya 213 Shloka 8 - Mahabharata | Kannada | Vedapath

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Shloka 8

दमप्रशंसा — Praise of Self-Restraint

Dama

Devanagari script

प्रकृत्या क्षेत्रभूतास्ता नस: क्षेत्रज्ञलक्षणा: । तस्मादेवाविशेषेण नरो5तीयाद्‌ विशेषत:

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | prakṛtyā kṣetrabhūtās tā nārīḥ kṣetrajña-lakṣaṇāḥ | tasmād evāviśeṣeṇa naro ’tīyād viśeṣataḥ ||

Translation

ಭೀಷ್ಮನು ಹೇಳಿದರು—ಸ್ತ್ರೀಯರು ಸ್ವಭಾವತಃ ‘ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರ’ವೆಂದು, ಪುರುಷರು ‘ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರಜ್ಞ’ ಲಕ್ಷಣವುಳ್ಳವರೆಂದು ತಿಳಿಯಬೇಕು. ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ನಿಯಮವಾಗಿ, ವಿಶೇಷ ಎಚ್ಚರಿಕೆಯಿಂದ ಪುರುಷನು ಸ್ತ್ರೀಸಂಗದಿಂದ ದೂರವಿರಬೇಕು—ಮೋಹ ಮತ್ತು ಆಸಕ್ತಿಯ ಬಂಧನಕ್ಕೆ ಒಳಗಾಗದಂತೆ.

Word by Word

प्रकृत्याby nature

क्षेत्रभूताःhaving become the field (kṣetra)

ताःthose (women)

नnot

सःhe

क्षेत्रज्ञलक्षणाःhaving the mark/nature of the knower of the field (kṣetrajña)

तस्मात्therefore/from that reason

एवindeed/just

अविशेषेणin general/without distinction

नरःa man

अतीयात्should pass beyond/should avoid

विशेषतःespecially/in particular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

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 frames a Sāṅkhya-style contrast of kṣetra (field of experience) and kṣetrajña (knower) to urge vigilance against attachment; ethically, it emphasizes self-restraint and guarding the mind from मोह (delusion) that can arise through sensual association.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and disciplines conducive to peace and liberation; here he offers a cautionary maxim about avoiding entanglement in desire, expressed through the kṣetra–kṣetrajña framework.