Shloka 15

Gautama’s Flight, the Enchanted Grove, and the Arrival of Rājadharma

Nāḍījaṅgha

Devanagari script

कल्याणं कुरुते बाढं धीमान्‌ न ग्लायते क्वचित्‌ । प्रशान्तवाड्मना नित्यं ह्ीस्तु धर्मादवाप्यते

Transliteration

kalyāṇaṁ kurute bāḍhaṁ dhīmān na glāyate kvacit | praśāntavāḍmanā nityaṁ hrīst(u) dharmād avāpyate ||

Translation

ബുദ്ധിമാൻ മറ്റുള്ളവരുടെ ക്ഷേമത്തിനായി ഉറച്ച മനസ്സോടെ പ്രവർത്തിക്കുകയും ഒരിക്കലും നിരാശനാകാതിരിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നു; അവന്റെ മനസ്സും വാക്കും നിത്യം ശാന്തമാണ്—അവനെയാണ് ‘ഹ്രീ’ (ലജ്ജാശീലമായ സംയമം) ഉള്ളവൻ എന്നു പറയുന്നത്. ഈ ഹ്രീഗുണം ധർമ്മാചരണത്തിലൂടെയാണ് ലഭിക്കുന്നത്.

Word by Word

• {'kalyāṇam': 'welfare, good, auspicious benefit', 'kurute': 'does, performs, brings about', 'bāḍham': 'firmly, intensely, earnestly', 'dhīmān': 'wise, intelligent, discerning', 'na': 'not', 'glāyate': 'droops, becomes despondent, is dejected', 'kvacit': 'anywhere, ever, at any time', 'praśānta': 'calm, tranquil, pacified', 'vāk': 'speech', 'manas': 'mind', 'praśāntavāḍmanā': 'with calm speech and mind (instrumental compound)', 'nityam': 'always, continually', 'hrīḥ': 'modesty, shame in the sense of moral restraint, bashfulness', 'dharma': 'righteous conduct, moral law, duty', 'dharmāt': 'from dharma

• through dharma (ablative)', 'avāpyate': 'is obtained, is attained'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True modesty (hrī) is not mere shyness; it is a moral restraint that arises from living by dharma. The wise person actively promotes others’ welfare, remains free from dejection, and maintains calmness in mind and speech.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on righteous living, Bhīṣma continues advising Yudhiṣṭhira by defining the marks and source of the virtue called hrī (modesty/restraint), linking it to beneficent action, inner composure, and dharmic practice.