Shloka 22

Devanagari script

दमस्त्यागो<प्रमादश्न एतेष्वमृतमाहितम्‌ | तानि सत्यमुखान्याहुर्ब्राह्मणा ये मनीषिण:

Transliteration

damas tyāgo 'pramādaś ca eteṣv amṛtam āhitam | tāni satyamukhāny āhur brāhmaṇā ye manīṣiṇaḥ ||

Translation

ಸನತ್ಸುಜಾತನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ದಮ, ತ್ಯಾಗ ಮತ್ತು ಅಪ್ರಮಾದ—ಇವುಗಳಲ್ಲೇ ಅಮೃತ ನೆಲೆಸಿದೆ. ಮನುಷ್ಯಜ್ಞ ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣರು ಇವನ್ನೇ ಸತ್ಯದ ಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠ ದ್ವಾರಗಳೆಂದು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ.

Word by Word

दमःself-control

त्यागःrenunciation, giving up

अप्रमादःnon-negligence, vigilance

एतेषुin these

अमृतम्immortality, nectar (figuratively: the deathless good)

आहितम्placed, deposited, contained

तानिthose (things)

सत्यमुखानिhaving truth as their face; truth-fronted

आहुःthey say, they have said

ब्राह्मणाःBrahmins

येwho

मनीषिणःwise, thoughtful

Speaker

सनत्युजात उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sanatsujāta

brāhmaṇāḥ (wise Brahmins)

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?

Immortality (amṛtatva) is attained not through external status but through inner discipline: self-restraint (dama), renunciation (tyāga), and constant alertness against moral and spiritual negligence (apramāda). These are presented as the primary ‘gateways’ that lead one into truth.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Udyoga Parva, Sanatsujāta instructs the listener on higher dharma and liberation-oriented ethics. Here he condenses his counsel into three foundational practices, citing the testimony of wise Brahmins that these are the foremost means leading to truth and deathlessness.