Shloka 12

Devanagari script

शरीराणि विमोक्ष्यामस्तपसोग्रेण सत्तम | आश्रमाणां विशेषं त्वमथाचक्ष्व पितामह,संतोंमें श्रेष्ठ पितामह! हम घोर तपस्या करके अपने शरीरका परित्याग कर देंगे। आप इसके लिये कोई विशेष आश्रम हो तो बताइये

Transliteration

Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |

śarīrāṇi vimokṣyāmas tapaso greṇa sattama |

āśramāṇāṃ viśeṣaṃ tvam athācakṣva pitāmaha ||

Translation

युधिष्ठिर म्हणाला— हे सत्पुरुषश्रेष्ठ पितामह! आम्ही घोर तपस्येने देहाचा त्याग करू. म्हणून सांगा, यासाठी कोणता विशेष आश्रम (जीवनाश्रम/व्रत-शिस्त) अधिक योग्य आहे काय?

Word by Word

• {'युधिष्ठिर उवाच (Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca)': 'Yudhiṣṭhira said', 'शरीराणि (śarīrāṇi)': 'bodies', 'विमोक्ष्यामः (vimokṣyāmaḥ)': 'we shall release/abandon

• we shall relinquish', 'तपसा (tapasā)': 'by austerity, ascetic discipline', 'उग्रेण (ugreṇa)': 'fierce, severe, intense', 'सत्तम (sattama)': 'O best among the good/virtuous', 'आश्रमाणाम् (āśramāṇām)': 'of the āśramas

• of the life-stages/spiritual disciplines', 'विशेषम् (viśeṣam)': 'a special distinction

• something particularly appropriate', 'त्वम् (tvam)': 'you', 'अथ (atha)': 'then/now', 'आचक्ष्व (ācakṣva)': 'tell, explain, instruct', 'पितामह (pitāmaha)': 'grandfather

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Pitāmaha (Bhīṣma)
• āśrama (life-stage/spiritual discipline)
• tapas (austerity)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames renunciation as something that should be guided by dharma: even the desire to abandon the body through austerity is placed under the discipline of the āśrama system, seeking proper counsel rather than impulsive self-denial.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the instruction-filled Śānti Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Bhīṣma as ‘Grandfather’ and asks him to specify which āśrama or regulated path of life is especially appropriate for undertaking severe austerities with the intent of relinquishing the body.