Shloka 16

Devanagari script

ज्यायसी या पवित्राणां निवृत्ति: श्रद्धया सह । निवृत्तशीलदोषो य: श्रद्धावान्‌ पूत एव सः,“श्रद्धा होनेके साथ-ही-साथ पापोंसे निवृत्त हो जाना समस्त पवित्रताओंसे बढ़कर है। जिसके शील-सम्बन्धी दोष दूर हो गये हैं, वह श्रद्धालु पुरुष सदा पवित्र ही है

Transliteration

jyāyasī yā pavitrāṇāṁ nivṛttiḥ śraddhayā saha | nivṛttaśīladoṣo yaḥ śraddhāvān pūta eva saḥ ||

Translation

ഭീഷ്മൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ശ്രദ്ധയോടുകൂടി പാപത്തിൽ നിന്ന് പിന്തിരിയുന്നതാണ് എല്ലാ ശുദ്ധീകരണങ്ങളേക്കാളും ശ്രേഷ്ഠം. ശീലദോഷങ്ങൾ നീങ്ങിയ ശ്രദ്ധാവാൻ സത്യത്തിൽ എപ്പോഴും പവിത്രനാണ്.

Word by Word

ज्यायसीgreater/superior

याwhich

पवित्राणाम्of purifications / of holy acts

निवृत्तिःcessation/withdrawal (from sin)

श्रद्धयाwith faith

सहtogether with

निवृत्त-शील-दोषःone whose faults of conduct have ceased

यःwho

श्रद्धावान्faithful / endowed with faith

पूतःpurified

एवindeed/only

सःhe

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

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?

True purity is primarily ethical: abandoning sinful behavior with sincere faith surpasses external or ritual forms of purification; reformed conduct makes a person genuinely pure.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma teaches Yudhiṣṭhira that inner moral transformation—ending faults of conduct—matters more than outward purificatory practices.