Shloka 9

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

Devanagari script

इस प्रकार श्रीमहाभारत अनुशासनपववके अन्तर्गत दानधर्मपर्वमें सियार और वानरका संवादविषयक नवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ

Transliteration

niyamavratasaṃpannaiḥ samākīrṇa-tapasvibhiḥ | dīkṣitair bharataśreṣṭha yatāhāraiḥ kṛtātmabhiḥ ||

Translation

ഭരതശ്രേഷ്ഠാ! നിയമവും വ്രതവും സമ്പന്നരായ, തപസ്സിൽ നിരതരായ, ദീക്ഷിതരായ, മിതാഹാരികളായ, ജിതാത്മാക്കളായ മുനിമാരാൽ ആ ആശ്രമം നിറഞ്ഞിരുന്നു.

Word by Word

• {'niyama': 'religious observance

• rule of disciplined conduct', 'vrata': 'vow

• solemn religious undertaking', 'saṃpanna': 'endowed with

• possessed of', 'samākīrṇa': 'filled with

• crowded by', 'tapasvin': 'ascetic

• one practicing austerity (tapas)', 'dīkṣita': 'initiated

• consecrated for a rite or disciplined life', 'bharataśreṣṭha': 'O best among the Bharatas (honorific address)', 'yatāhāra': 'moderate in food

• regulated diet', 'kṛtātman': 'self-controlled

• one who has mastered the mind and senses', 'āśrama': 'hermitage

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Bharataśreṣṭha (address to Yudhiṣṭhira)
• āśrama (hermitage)
• tapasvins (ascetics)
• dīkṣitas (initiates)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma is sustained by disciplined living: vows (vrata), observances (niyama), moderation in food (yatāhāra), and self-mastery (kṛtātman). The verse presents these as the marks of a spiritually charged community.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma describes to Yudhiṣṭhira the character of an āśrama, emphasizing that it is populated by initiated ascetics who live under strict rules, vows, and restraint—setting the moral setting for the surrounding discourse.