Shloka 29

Devanagari script

सुशीलवृत्तो व्यपनीतकल्मषो न चेह नामुत्र च कर्तुमीहते । अरोषमोहो गतसंधिविग्रहो भवेदुदासीनवदात्मविन्नर:

Transliteration

suśīlavṛtto vyapanītakalmaṣo na ceha nāmutra ca kartum īhate | aroṣamoho gatasandhivigraho bhaved udāsīnavad ātmavinnaraḥ ||

Translation

സുശീലവൃത്തിയുള്ള, കല്മഷം നീങ്ങിയ മനുഷ്യൻ ഇഹലോകത്തോ പരലോകത്തോ ഒന്നും ‘സാധിക്കുവാൻ’ അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ‘ഉറപ്പിക്കുവാൻ’ ശ്രമിക്കുന്നില്ല. ക്രോധമോഹരഹിതനായി, സന്ധി-വിഗ്രഹങ്ങളുടെ ദ്വന്ദ്വം അതിക്രമിച്ച്, ആത്മജ്ഞാനി ഉദാസീനവത്ഭാവത്തിൽ—സ്ഥിരനും അനാസക്തനും അന്തർതൃപ്തനുമായി—ജീവിക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

सुशीलवृत्तःof good character and conduct

व्यपनीतकल्मषःwhose sin/impurity has been removed

नnot

चand

इहhere (in this world)

नnot

अमुत्रthere (in the other world)

चand

कर्तुम्to do

ईहतेstrives/endeavors

अरोषमोहःfree from anger and delusion

गतसन्धिविग्रहःone who has gone beyond alliance and hostility (peace and conflict)

भवेत्should be / may become

उदासीनवत्like one indifferent

आत्मवित्knower of the Self

नरःa man

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

ātma-vit (knower of the Self)

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?

The verse teaches that the Self-knower, purified in conduct and mind, abandons result-driven striving for worldly or otherworldly gains, and remains free from anger and delusion. Such a person transcends partisan dualities (friend vs. foe, alliance vs. conflict) and abides in steady, detached equanimity.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation-oriented conduct, Vyāsa describes the marks of an ātma-vit (knower of the Self): moral purity, freedom from reactive emotions, and a stance of neutrality toward social-political oppositions, indicating a contemplative ideal within the post-war teaching context.