Shloka 5

Adhyāya 164: Gautama as Guest; Kaśyapa’s Satkāra and the Fourfold Arthagati; Journey to Virūpākṣa

Devanagari script

एशभ्य: प्रवर्तते दुःखमे भ्य: पापं प्रवर्तते । इति मर्त्यो विजानीयात्‌ सततं पुरुषर्षभ,नरश्रेष्ठ! इन्हींसे सबको दु:ख प्राप्त होता है, इन्हींकी प्रेरणासे मनुष्यकी पापकर्मामें प्रवृत्ति होती है। प्रत्येक पुरुषको सदा इस बातकी जानकारी रखनी चाहिये

Transliteration

eṣebhyaḥ pravartate duḥkham ebhyaḥ pāpaṃ pravartate | iti martyo vijānīyāt satataṃ puruṣarṣabha, naraśreṣṭha |

Translation

പുരുഷർഷഭാ! ഇവയിൽ നിന്നാണ് ദുഃഖം ഉദ്ഭവിക്കുന്നത്; ഇവയിൽ നിന്നാണ് പാപത്തിലേക്കുള്ള പ്രവൃത്തി ഉണരുന്നത്. അതിനാൽ മർത്ത്യൻ ഈ സത്യം എപ്പോഴും അറിഞ്ഞ് ജാഗ്രത പാലിക്കണം.

Word by Word

• {'eṣebhyaḥ (ete + bhyaḥ)': 'from these (causes/factors just mentioned)', 'pravartate': 'arises

• comes into operation', 'duḥkham': 'suffering

• distress', 'pāpam': 'sin

• wrongful action and its moral stain', 'iti': 'thus

• in this manner (marking the conclusion of the statement)', 'martyaḥ': 'a mortal

• human being', 'vijānīyāt': 'should know

• should clearly understand', 'satataṃ': 'always

• continually', 'puruṣarṣabha': 'O bull among men (honorific address to a great man)', 'naraśreṣṭha': 'O best of men (honorific address)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Yudhishthira (implied addressee: puruṣarṣabha/naraśreṣṭha)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma teaches moral causality: certain inner causes (the ‘these’ just discussed in context) generate both suffering and sinful conduct. Therefore one should keep constant awareness of the roots of wrongdoing and misery and restrain them.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma after the war. Here he emphasizes that a wise person should continually recognize the sources that lead humans into sin and thereby into suffering.