Shanti Parva Adhyaya 284 Shloka 165 - Mahabharata | Kannada | Vedapath

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Shloka 165

Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment

Parāśara’s Instruction

Devanagari script

जटिले दण्डिने नित्यं लम्बोदरशरीरिणे । कमण्डलुनिषज्जाय तस्मै ब्रह्मात्मने नम:

Transliteration

jaṭile daṇḍine nityaṁ lambodarśarīriṇe | kamaṇḍaluniṣajjāya tasmai brahmātmane namaḥ ||

Translation

ನಿತ್ಯ ಜಟೆ ಮತ್ತು ದಂಡವನ್ನು ಧರಿಸುವವನು; ವಿಶಾಲ ಉದರ-ದೇಹ ಹೊಂದಿರುವವನು; ಕಮಂಡಲು ಸದಾ ಸಂಗಾತಿಯಾಗಿರುವವನು—ಆ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಾತ್ಮಸ್ವರೂಪನಾದ ಭಗವಾನ್ ಶಿವನಿಗೆ ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ।

Word by Word

जटिलेto the matted-haired one

दण्डिनेto the staff-bearer

नित्यम्always

लम्बोदर-शरीरिणेto him whose belly and body are large/pendulous

कमण्डलु-निषज्जायto (him) for whom the kamandalu is the quiver/attachment

तस्मैto him

ब्रह्म-आत्मनेto the one whose self is Brahman / the Brahman-souled one

नमःsalutation

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Shiva

Brahman

daṇḍa (ascetic staff)

kamaṇḍalu (water-pot)

jaṭā (matted hair)

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?

The verse teaches reverence toward the supreme ascetic principle—Shiva as Brahman—highlighting humility and devotion as supports of dharma, and presenting renunciation-symbols (jaṭā, daṇḍa, kamaṇḍalu) as marks of spiritual authority.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction setting, Bhishma speaks a hymn-like salutation, praising Shiva’s ascetic form and affirming him as brahman-svarūpa (of the nature of Brahman), thereby grounding ethical discourse in devotion to the highest reality.