Shloka 296

Śreyas-nirdeśa (Discerning the Superior Good): Nārada–Gālava Saṃvāda

Devanagari script

मृत्युरापद्यते मोहात्‌ सत्येनापद्यते5मृतम्‌ । अमृत और मृत्यु--ये दोनों इस शरीरमें ही विद्यमान हैं। मोहसे मृत्यु प्राप्त होती है और सत्यसे अमृतपदकी उपलब्धि होती है

Transliteration

mṛtyur āpadyate mohāt satyenāpadyate ’mṛtam | amṛtaṃ ca mṛtyuś ca ubhe ’smin śarīre vidyete | mohān mṛtyuḥ prāpyate satyād amṛtapadasya prāptir bhavati ||

Translation

भीष्म म्हणाले—मोहामुळे मृत्यु प्राप्त होते आणि सत्यामुळे अमृतपद प्राप्त होते. अमृत आणि मृत्यु—ही दोन्ही याच देहात विद्यमान आहेत. जो मोहात पडतो तो मर्त्यत्वाला पोहोचतो; जो सत्यात स्थिर राहतो तो अमृतत्वाचा लाभ घेतो.

Word by Word

मृत्युःdeath

आपद्यतेis attained / befalls

मोहात्from delusion; due to delusion

सत्येनby truth; through truth

आपद्यतेis attained / is reached

अमृतम्immortality; the deathless state

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?

Delusion (moha) is the inner cause of ‘death’—bondage, decline, and repeated suffering—whereas truth (satya), as a disciplined alignment of speech, mind, and conduct with reality and dharma, leads to the ‘deathless’ (amṛta), i.e., liberation or imperishable well-being.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and the means to peace after the war. Here he distills a moral-psychological principle: the decisive battlefield is within the embodied person—moha produces ruin, while satya becomes a path to the highest good.