Shloka 20

Devanagari script

शुभाशुभानि कर्माणि मृत्यु: कालश्न सर्वश: । विश्वेदेवा: पितृगणा मूर्तिमन्तस्तपोधना:

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | śubhāśubhāni karmāṇi mṛtyuḥ kālaś ca sarvaśaḥ | viśvedevāḥ pitṛgaṇā mūrtimantas tapodhanāḥ ||

Translation

ഭീഷ്മൻ പറഞ്ഞു—സകല ശുഭാശുഭ കര്‍മ്മങ്ങളെയും മൃത്യുവും കാലവും പൂർണ്ണമായി നിരീക്ഷിക്കുന്നു. വിശ്വേദേവന്മാരും തപോധനരായ മൂർത്തിമാൻ പിതൃഗണങ്ങളും സാക്ഷികളായിരിക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

• शुभ: auspicious (good)
• शुभ: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शुभ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसक, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• अशुभानि: inauspicious (evil)
• अशुभानि: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अशुभ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसक, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• कर्माणि: deeds, actions
• कर्माणि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसक, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• मृत्युः: Death (personified)
• मृत्युः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृत्यु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• कालः: Time (personified)
• कालः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: काल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

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

• सर्वशः: entirely, in every way
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सर्वशस् (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)

• विश्वेदेवाः: the All-gods (Viśvedevas)
• विश्वेदेवाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: विश्वेदेव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• पितृगणाः: groups of Pitṛs (manes/ancestors)
• पितृगणाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृगण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• मूर्तिमन्तः: embodied, having form
• मूर्तिमन्तः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मूर्तिमन्त् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• तपोधनाः: those whose wealth is austerity; ascetics
• तपोधनाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपोधन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Mṛtyu (Death)
• Kāla (Time)
• Viśvedevāḥ
• Pitṛgaṇāḥ (Pitṛs/ancestors)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That no action—good or bad—escapes moral accounting: cosmic principles (Time and Death) and divine/ancestral beings are portrayed as witnesses who ensure that deeds bear appropriate results, reinforcing responsibility and dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma is instructing on ethical governance of life by describing unseen overseers of conduct—Mṛtyu, Kāla, the Viśvedevas, and the Pitṛ-hosts—who observe beings’ actions and confer outcomes, especially upon those who remember and honor them.