Shloka 98

Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)

Devanagari script

न दुष्करमनाशि त्वं सुकरं हाशनं विना । विशुद्धि चक्षुरादीनां षण्णामिन्द्रियगामिनाम्‌

Transliteration

na duṣkaram anāśi tvaṁ sukaraṁ hāśanaṁ vinā | viśuddhiś cakṣur-ādīnāṁ ṣaṇṇām indriya-gāminām ||

Translation

യുധിഷ്ഠിരൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ആഹാരം ചെയ്യാത്തവന് ഒന്നും ദുഷ്കരമല്ല; സാധാരണയായി കഠിനമായതും അശനം ഇല്ലാതെ സുലഭമാകുന്നു. അങ്ങനെ സംയമം കൊണ്ടു കണ്ണ് മുതലായ ആറു ഇന്ദ്രിയങ്ങൾ ശുദ്ധിയായി നിയന്ത്രണത്തിലാകുന്നു.

Word by Word

नnot

दुष्करम्difficult (thing)

अनाशिO non-eater / O one who does not eat

त्वम्you

सुकरम्easy (thing)

हindeed / surely

अशनम्eating / food-intake

विनाwithout

विशुद्धिःpurification / clarity

चक्षुःof the eye

आदीनाम्etc. (and the rest)

षण्णाम्of six

इन्द्रियगामिनाम्of those that go to/operate through the senses

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Fasting or restraint in eating is presented as a powerful discipline: it makes difficult practices easier and leads to purification and control of the six senses, which otherwise run outward toward their objects.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira speaks about the practical and ethical value of abstaining from food, linking bodily restraint to inner purification and mastery over the senses—an ascetic, dharmic counsel within the Vana Parva context.