Shloka 15

Devanagari script

पार्थिवानि द्वयान्याहुर्मध्यमान्यधमानि तु । मध्यमानि विशिष्टानि जातिधर्मोपधारणात्‌,पार्थिव (मनुष्य) भी दो प्रकारके बताये गये हैं--मध्यम और अधम। उनमें मध्यम मनुष्य अधमकी अपेक्षा श्रेष्ठ हैं; क्योंकि वे जाति-धर्मको धारण करते हैं

Transliteration

pārthivāni dvayāny āhur madhyamāny adhamāni tu | madhyamāni viśiṣṭāni jātidharmopadhāraṇāt ||

Translation

പാർഥിവർ (മനുഷ്യർ) രണ്ടുവിധമെന്ന് പറയുന്നു—മധ്യമരും അധമരും. അവരിൽ മധ്യമർ അധമരേക്കാൾ ശ്രേഷ്ഠർ; കാരണം അവർ ജാതി-ധർമ്മം ധരിക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

पार्थिवानिkings / men (lit. earthly ones)

द्वयानिtwofold / of two kinds

आहुःthey say / have said

मध्यमानिmiddling / medium (class)

अधमानिlowest / base (class)

तुbut / and

मध्यमानिthe middling ones

विशिष्टानिdistinguished / superior

जाति-धर्म-उपधारणात्because of upholding the duties of one’s class (jati-dharma)

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Human beings are ethically distinguished by conduct: those who uphold the duties and norms appropriate to their station (jāti-dharma) are ‘madhyama’ and are considered superior to those who neglect such obligations and become ‘adhama’.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa offers a moral classification of people, contrasting the ‘middling/proper’ with the ‘base,’ and grounds the distinction in adherence to prescribed dharma.