Shloka 7

Devanagari script

हे अर्जुन! इस लोकमें भूतोंकी सृष्टि यानी मनुष्यसमुदाय दो ही प्रकारका है,” एक तो दैवी प्रकृतिवाला और दूसरा आसुरी प्रकृतिवाला। उनमेंसे दैवी प्रकृतिवाला तो विस्तारपूर्वक कहा गया, अब तू आसुरी प्रकृतिवाले मनुष्यसमुदायको भी विस्तारपूर्वक मुझसे सुन ।। प्रवृत्ति च निवृत्ति च जना न विदुरासुरा: । न शौचं नापि चाचारो न सत्य तेषु विद्यते,आसुरस्वभाववाले मनुष्य प्रवृत्ति और निवृत्ति--इन दोनोंको ही नहीं जानते52। इसलिये उनमें न तो बाहर-भीतरकी शुद्धि है, न श्रेष्ठ आचरण है और न सत्यभाषण ही है

Transliteration

arjuna uvāca | pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca janā na vidur āsurāḥ | na śaucaṁ nāpi cācāro na satyaṁ teṣu vidyate ||

Translation

हे अर्जुना! आसुरी स्वभावाचे लोक प्रवृत्ती आणि निवृत्ती—दोन्हीही जाणत नाहीत. म्हणून त्यांच्यात बाह्य-आंतरिक शुचिता नाही, सदाचार नाही, आणि सत्यही नाही.

Word by Word

प्रवृत्तिम्activity; worldly engagement

चand

निवृत्तिम्withdrawal; renunciation

चand

जनाःpeople

नnot

विदुःknow

आसुराःdemonic (people)

नnot

शौचम्purity; cleanliness

नnot

अपिeven; also

चand

आचारःproper conduct; good practice

नnot

सत्यम्truth; truthfulness

तेषुin them

विद्यतेexists; is found

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Arjuna

āsurāḥ (people of demonic disposition)

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 defines the ethical blindness of the āsuric temperament: it cannot discriminate between rightful engagement (pravṛtti) and rightful restraint (nivṛtti). This lack of discernment manifests as absence of purity, good conduct, and truth—three pillars of moral life.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Bhīṣma Parva context, a discourse is distinguishing types of human dispositions. Here, the speaker characterizes the āsuric type by its failure to recognize moral boundaries and by the resulting collapse of personal and social virtues.