Shloka 70

उपदेशदोषप्रसङ्गः (Upadeśa-doṣa-prasaṅgaḥ) — The Risk of Misapplied Counsel

Devanagari script

तस्मान्मौनेन मुनयो दीक्षां कुर्वन्ति चादृता: । दुरुक्तस्य भयाद्‌ राजन्‌ नाभाषन्ते च किंचन

Transliteration

tasmān maunena munayo dīkṣāṃ kurvanti cādṛtāḥ | duruktasya bhayād rājan nābhāṣante ca kiṃcana ||

Translation

അതുകൊണ്ട്, ഹേ രാജൻ, മുനിമാർ ആദരപൂർവ്വം മൗനത്തിലൂടെയാണ് ദീക്ഷ സ്വീകരിക്കുന്നത്. ദുഷ്‌വചനത്തിന്റെ ഭയത്താൽ അവർ ഒന്നും സംസാരിക്കുകയില്ല.

Word by Word

• तस्मात्: therefore/from that (reason)
• तस्मात्: Apadana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Ablative, Singular

• मौनेन: by silence
• मौनेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मौन
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• मुनयः: sages
• मुनयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुनि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• दीक्षाम्: initiation/vow (dīkṣā)
• दीक्षाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: दीक्षा
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• कुर्वन्ति: do/perform
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Present (Lat), Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• आदृताः: being respectful/with reverence
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आदृत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• दुरुक्तस्य: of harsh/ill speech
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुरुक्त
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• भयात्: from fear
• भयात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भय
• Form: Neuter, Ablative, Singular

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• आभाषन्ते: speak/utter
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-भाष्
• Form: Present (Lat), Third, Plural, Atmanepada

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• किंचन: anything (at all)
• किंचन: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: किंचन
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• rājan (the king, i.e., Yudhiṣṭhira as addressee)
• muni (sages)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Speech can easily become harmful when it is ill-chosen or harsh; therefore sages adopt silence as a disciplined vow, treating restraint of speech as an ethical safeguard and a form of spiritual consecration.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma instructs the king on dharma, explaining why ascetics value mauna (silence): out of reverence for their discipline and fear of the consequences of wrong speech, they refrain from speaking.