Shloka 3

Kāpavya-carita (कापव्यचरित) — Reforming Dasyus through Regulated Rāja-Dharma

Devanagari script

भीष्म उवाच विज्ञानबलमास्थाय जीवितव्यं तथागते । सर्व साध्वर्थमेवेदमसाध्वर्थ न किंचन,भीष्मजीने कहा--युधिष्ठि!! ऐसी परिस्थितिमें ब्राह्मगको तो अपने विज्ञान-बलका आश्रय लेकर जीवन-निर्वाह करना चाहिये। इस जगतमें यह जो कुछ भी धन आदि दिखायी देता है, वह सब कुछ श्रेष्ठ पुरुषोंके लिये ही है, दुष्टोंके लिये कुछ भी नहीं है

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca vijñānabalam āsthāya jīvitavyaṃ tathāgate | sarva-sādhv-artham evedaṃ asādhv-artha na kiṃcana ||

Translation

ഭീഷ്മൻ പറഞ്ഞു— യുധിഷ്ഠിരാ! അത്തരം സ്ഥിതി വന്നാൽ വിവേകവും സത്യജ്ഞാനവും എന്ന ബലത്തെ ആശ്രയിച്ച് ജീവൻ നിലനിർത്തണം. ഈ ലോകത്ത് കാണുന്ന ധനം മുതലായവ എല്ലാം സജ്ജനർക്കായുള്ളതാണ്; ദുഷ്ടർക്കു യഥാർത്ഥത്തിൽ ഒന്നുമില്ല.

Word by Word

• {'bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', 'vijñāna': 'discernment, true knowledge, practical wisdom', 'bala': 'strength, power', 'vijñānabalam': 'the strength born of discernment/knowledge', 'āsthāya': 'having resorted to, relying upon', 'jīvitavyam': 'one should live

• life should be sustained', 'tathāgate': 'when it has come to be so

• in such a state/condition having occurred', 'sarva': 'all, entirely', 'sādhu': 'good, virtuous, righteous person', 'artha': 'purpose

• also wealth, means, resources', 'sādhv-artham': 'for the sake/benefit of the virtuous

• meant for the good', 'eva': 'indeed, only', 'idam': 'this (worldly wealth/resources implied)', 'asādhu': 'wicked, unrighteous person', 'asādhv-artha': 'for the wicked

• meant for the wicked', 'na kiṃcana': 'nothing at all'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Yudhishthira

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Sustain life through discernment and ethical intelligence, not through unrighteous means; worldly resources are properly aligned with the welfare of the virtuous, while the wicked have no rightful claim to them.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to Yudhishthira, Bhishma continues advising on dharma and conduct after the war, emphasizing how one should live in difficult circumstances and how wealth is to be understood in moral terms.