Shloka 26

Śara-śayyā-sthita-bhīṣma-saṃvāda-prastāvaḥ

The Prelude to Questioning Bhīṣma on the Bed of Arrows

Devanagari script

शीतांशुश्नन्द्र इत्युक्ते लोके को विस्मयिष्यति । तथैव यशसा पूर्णे मयि को विस्मयिष्यति,“चन्द्रमा शीतल किरणोंसे सम्पन्न हैं' यह बात कहनेपर जगतमें किसको आश्चर्य होगा? अर्थात्‌ किसीको नहीं होगा। उसी प्रकार सम्पूर्ण यशसे सम्पन्न मुझ परमेश्वरके द्वारा कोई उत्तम उपदेश प्राप्त हो तो उसे सुनकर कौन आश्चर्य करेगा?

Transliteration

śītāṃśuś candra iti ukte loke ko vismayiṣyati | tathaiva yaśasā pūrṇe mayi ko vismayiṣyati ||

Translation

വായു പറഞ്ഞു—‘ചന്ദ്രൻ ശീതള കിരണങ്ങളുള്ളവൻ’ എന്നു ലോകത്തിൽ പറഞ്ഞാൽ ആരാണ് അത്ഭുതപ്പെടുക? ആരുമല്ല. അതുപോലെ, യശസ്സാൽ പരിപൂർണ്ണനായ ഞാൻ പരമേശ്വരനിൽ നിന്നു ഉത്തമോപദേശം ലഭിച്ചാൽ, അത് കേട്ട് ആരാണ് വിസ്മയിക്കുക?

Word by Word

• {'śītāṃśuḥ': 'the moon

• ‘cool-rayed’ (one whose rays are cool)', 'candraḥ': 'the moon', 'iti': 'thus

• ‘so’ (quotative particle)', 'ukte': 'when said

• upon being stated (locative absolute sense)', 'loke': 'in the world

• among people', 'kaḥ': 'who?', 'vismayiṣyati': 'will be astonished

• will marvel', 'tathā eva': 'just so

• in the same manner', 'yaśasā': 'with fame, glory, renown (instrumental)', 'pūrṇe': 'full, complete (locative singular

• ‘in one who is complete’)', 'mayi': 'in me', 'uttama-upadeśaḥ': 'excellent instruction/teaching (implied by the prose gloss)'}

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyu (Vāyudeva)
• Candra (the Moon)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Do not treat genuine excellence as surprising when it arises from its natural source: wise counsel from a supremely glorious divine being is as expected as cool rays from the moon.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva speaks using an analogy: just as no one marvels at the moon being cool-rayed, one should not be astonished to receive lofty instruction from the Lord who is complete in renown.