Shloka 5

Devanagari script

यस्तान्‌ पाशान्‌ वशे कृत्वा त॑ वृक्षमपकर्षति । गत: स दुःखयोरन्तं जरामरणयोर्द्धयो:,जो उन वासनाके बन्धनोंको वशमें करके वैराग्यरूप शस्त्रद्वारा उस काम-वृक्षको काट डालता है, वह मनुष्य जरा और मृत्युजनित दोनों प्रकारके दुःखोंसे पार हो जाता है

Transliteration

yastān pāśān vaśe kṛtvā taṁ vṛkṣam apakarṣati | gataḥ sa duḥkhayor antaṁ jarāmaraṇayor dvayoḥ ||

Translation

Vyāsa berkata: Sesiapa yang menundukkan ikatan-ikatan itu dan menebang pohon itu (pohon keinginan) dengan senjata ketidakmelekatan, dia melampaui dua jenis penderitaan yang lahir daripada tua dan mati.

Word by Word

यःwho

तान्those

पाशान्nooses, bonds

वशेunder control, in subjection

कृत्वाhaving made (having brought)

तम्that

वृक्षम्tree

अपकर्षतिdraws away, pulls down, removes

गतःgone, having reached

सःhe

दुःखयोःof (the two) sufferings

अन्तम्end, limit

जरा-मरणयोःof old age and death

उभयोःof both

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

pāśa (bond/noose)

vṛkṣa (tree of desire)

jarā (old age)

maraṇa (death)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Master the binding impulses of attachment and sever the root of desire through vairāgya (dispassion). This inner conquest leads beyond the existential sufferings associated with aging and death.

What is happening in the narrative?

In a didactic passage of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa presents a metaphor: attachments are ‘nooses’ and desire is a ‘tree.’ The one who controls the nooses and cuts down the tree is described as transcending the dual suffering of old age and death.