Shloka 33

Devanagari script

अथास्य भक्ष्यमाजहु: समुद्रजलचारिण: । अण्डजा भीष्म तस्यान्ये धर्मार्थमिति शुश्रुम,भीष्म! ऐसा सुननेमें आया है कि वे समुद्रके जलमें विचरनेवाले पक्षी धर्म समझकर उसके लिये भोजन जुटा दिया करते थे

Transliteration

athāsya bhakṣyam ājahuḥ samudra-jala-cāriṇaḥ | aṇḍajā bhīṣma tasyānye dharmārtham iti śuśruma ||

Translation

ഭീഷ്മാ, കേട്ടതുപോലെ—സമുദ്രജലത്തിൽ സഞ്ചരിക്കുന്ന മറ്റു അണ്ഡജപക്ഷികൾ ‘ഇത് ധർമ്മകർത്തവ്യം’ എന്നു കരുതി അവനുവേണ്ടി ആഹാരം ശേഖരിച്ചു കൊണ്ടുവന്നു.

Word by Word

अथthen

अस्यfor him/of him

भक्ष्यम्food (to be eaten)

आजहुःthey brought

समुद्र-जल-चारिणःmoving in sea-water (sea-going)

अण्डजाःegg-born ones (birds)

भीष्मO Bhishma

तस्यfor him/of him

अन्येothers

धर्म-अर्थम्for the sake of dharma (as a duty)

इतिthus

शुश्रुमI have heard

Speaker

शिशुपाल उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śiśupāla

Bhīṣma

samudra (ocean/sea)

aṇḍajāḥ (birds/egg-born creatures)

bhakṣya (food)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights dharma as a motivating principle for service: even creatures of the sea are said to act out of a sense of duty, implying that righteous obligation can be understood as a universal moral force rather than merely a human convention.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śiśupāla addresses Bhīṣma and cites a heard report: sea-roaming birds (aṇḍajāḥ) would bring food for a certain person, doing so 'for the sake of dharma.' The statement functions as rhetorical evidence within Śiśupāla’s speech.