Shanti Parva Adhyaya 166 Shloka 37 - Mahabharata | Malayalam | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 37

Devanagari script

संवत्सरेण पतति पतितेन सहाचरन्‌ | याजनाध्यापनाद यौनान्न तु यानासनाशनात्‌

Transliteration

saṃvatsareṇa patati patitena sahācaran | yājanādhyāpanād yaunān na tu yānāsanāśanāt ||

Translation

പതിതനോടൊപ്പം താമസിച്ച് ആചരിച്ചാൽ, അവന്റെ യാഗം നടത്തിക്കൊടുത്താൽ, അവനെ പഠിപ്പിച്ചാൽ മനുഷ്യൻ ഒരു വർഷത്തിനകം പതിതനാകും; എന്നാൽ അവനോടൊപ്പം ഒരേ വാഹനവും, ഒരേ ആസനവും, ഒരേ ആഹാരവും പങ്കിട്ടാൽ—പതനം ഒരു വർഷം കാത്തിരിക്കാതെ തൽക്ഷണം സംഭവിക്കും.

Word by Word

संवत्सरेणin/within a year (by a year as measure)

पततिfalls (becomes fallen/impure)

पतितेनwith a fallen person

सहtogether/with

आचरन्practising/associating (while doing)

याजनfrom officiating at sacrifices (for others)

अध्यापनात्from teaching (him)

यौनात्from marital/sexual relation (intermarriage)

नnot

तुbut/however

यानfrom riding/vehicle (sharing conveyance)

आसनfrom seat (sharing a seat)

अशनात्from eating (together)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

patita (a fallen person/outcaste)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma distinguishes degrees of moral/ritual contamination: some forms of association with a ‘fallen’ person lead to degradation over time (general companionship, priestly service, teaching), while intimate boundary-crossing acts—marital/sexual alliance and sharing conveyance, seat, or food—are treated as causing immediate fall.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s dharma-instruction, Bhishma is laying down norms of conduct and social boundaries, explaining to the listener how different interactions with a patita are evaluated and what consequences they are said to bring.