Shloka 193

अहिंसा-प्रधान धर्मविचारः

Ahiṃsā as the Superior Dharma: Practical and Scriptural Reasoning

Devanagari script

द्वे चायुते नरश्रेष्ठ वाय्वाहारा महामते । तात! महामते! नरश्रेष्ठ फिर वह दस हजार पद्म वर्षोतक मृगोंके साथ विचरती रही। इसके बाद बीस हजार वर्षोंतक उसने केवल वायुका आहार किया

Transliteration

dve cāyute naraśreṣṭha vāyvāhārā mahāmate | tāta mahāmate naraśreṣṭha tataḥ sā daśa-sahasra-padma-varṣotka-mṛgaiḥ saha vicaratī rahī | tataḥ paraṁ viṁśati-sahasra-varṣāṇi kevalaṁ vāyum evāhāram akarot |

Translation

ഭീഷ്മൻ പറഞ്ഞു— ഹേ നരശ്രേഷ്ഠാ, ഹേ മഹാമതേ! അവൾ രണ്ട് അയുതകാലം വെറും വായുവിനെ ആഹാരമാക്കി ജീവിച്ചു. പിന്നെ മൃഗങ്ങളോടൊപ്പം പത്തായിരം പദ്മവർഷം സഞ്ചരിച്ചു. അതിനുശേഷം ഇരുപതിനായിരം വർഷം അവൾ വായുവിനെ മാത്രം ആഹാരമാക്കി.

Word by Word

• द्वे: two
• द्वे: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्वि
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Dual

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• आयुते: two tens of thousands (i.e., 20,000)
• आयुते: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: आयुत
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Dual

• नरश्रेष्ठ: O best of men
• Type: Noun
• Root: नरश्रेष्ठ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• वाय्वाहारा: having air as food; subsisting on air
• वाय्वाहारा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वाय्वाहार
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• महामते: O great-minded one
• Type: Noun
• Root: महामति
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

पितामह उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma (Pitāmaha)
• unnamed female ascetic (she)
• deer (mṛga)
• air (vāyu)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights tapas—radical self-control and endurance—as a dharmic discipline, presenting sustained austerity (living on air, long periods of restraint) as a model of spiritual resolve.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma describes an ascetic woman’s extraordinary regimen across immense spans of time: she wanders with deer and repeatedly undertakes prolonged periods of subsisting solely on air, emphasizing the intensity of her vow.