Shloka 7

Pātra-Lakṣaṇa and Niścita-Dharma

Marks of a Worthy Recipient and Stable Criteria of Dharma

Devanagari script

प्रेषितस्तेन विप्रेण कन्यापित्रा द्विजर्षभ । तवोपदेशं कर्तु वै तच्च सर्व कृतं मया,आज आपके ऊपर ब्रह्माजी तथा इन्द्रसहित सम्पूर्ण देवता संतुष्ट हैं। भगवन्‌ द्विजश्रेष्ठ! आप यहाँ जिस कार्यसे आये हैं, वह सफल हो गया। उस कन्याके पिता वदान्य ऋषिने मेरे पास आपको उपदेश देनेके लिये भेजा था। वह सब मैंने कर दिया

Transliteration

preṣitas tena vipreṇa kanyāpitṛā dvijarṣabha | tavopadeśaṁ kartu vai tac ca sarvaṁ kṛtaṁ mayā ||

Translation

ഭീഷ്മൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഹേ ദ്വിജശ്രേഷ്ഠാ! ആ കന്യയുടെ പിതാവായ ആ ബ്രാഹ്മണൻ നിന്നെ ഉപദേശിക്കാനായി എന്നെ അയച്ചിരുന്നു; ആ ദൗത്യം മുഴുവനും ഞാൻ നിർവഹിച്ചു കഴിഞ്ഞു.

Word by Word

• {'preṣitaḥ': 'sent, dispatched', 'tena': 'by him/that person', 'vipreṇa': 'by the Brahmin (instrumental singular of vipra)', 'kanyā-pitṛā': 'by the maiden’s father', 'dvija-ṛṣabha': 'bull among the twice-born

• best of Brahmins (vocative)', 'tava': 'to you/your', 'upadeśam': 'instruction, counsel, teaching', 'kartuṁ': 'to do, to carry out', 'vai': 'indeed, surely (emphatic particle)', 'tat ca': 'and that', 'sarvam': 'all, the whole (of it)', 'kṛtam': 'done, accomplished', 'mayā': 'by me'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• a Brahmin (vipra)
• the maiden’s father (kanyāpitṛ)
• the addressed Brahmin (dvijarṣabha)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes faithful execution of a entrusted duty: a messenger or agent should deliver the intended instruction accurately and complete the assigned task without deviation.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma addresses a Brahmin, explaining that he had been sent by another Brahmin—identified as a maiden’s father—to give counsel, and that Bhishma has now fully carried out that mission.