Shloka 6

संधेयासंधेय-पुरुषनिर्णयः (Criteria for Allies and Non-Allies) — with the opening of the Gautama narrative

Devanagari script

सुरापो5सम्मतादायी भ्रूणहा गुरुतल्पग: । तपसैव सुतप्तेन नर: पापात्‌ प्रमुच्यते,शराबी, किसीकी सम्मतिके बिना ही उसकी वस्तु उठा लेनेवाला (चोर), गर्भहत्यारा और गुरुपत्नीगामी मनुष्य भी अच्छी तरह की हुई तपस्याद्वारा ही पापसे छुटकारा पाता है

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | surāpo 'sammatādāyī bhrūṇahā gurutalpagaḥ | tapasaiva sutaptena naraḥ pāpāt pramucyate ||

Translation

भीष्म म्हणाले—दारू पिणारा, परवानगीशिवाय परधन उचलणारा, भ्रूणहत्या करणारा आणि गुरुपत्नीगामी—असा मनुष्यही जर खरोखर तीव्र तप करील, तर तपस्येनेच पापातून मुक्त होतो.

Word by Word

सुरापःa drunkard

असम्मतादायीone who takes (what is) not consented to; thief

भ्रूणहाslayer of an embryo; foeticide

गुरुतल्पगःone who goes to the गुरु's bed; violator of the teacher's wife

तपसाby austerity

एवindeed; only

सुतप्तेनwell-performed; well-heated (i.e., well-practised)

नरःa man

पापात्from sin

प्रमुच्यतेis released; is freed

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even the gravest moral transgressions are said to be removable through genuinely intense tapas (austerity/penance). The emphasis is on inner discipline and sustained self-purification as the effective means of expiation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and moral repair, Bhishma teaches Yudhiṣṭhira about prāyaścitta: he lists severe sins and states that a person becomes freed from their taint through well-performed austerity.