Shloka 56

Devanagari script

शार्टूलेष्वथ धर्मज्ञ श्रमो ज्वर इहोच्यते । मानुषेषु तु धर्मज्ञ ज्वरो नामैष भारत

Transliteration

śārṭūleṣv atha dharmajña śramo jvara iha ucyate | mānuṣeṣu tu dharmajña jvaro nāmaiṣa bhārata ||

Translation

Bhīṣma berkata: “Wahai yang mengetahui dharma, dalam kalangan harimau, apa yang di sini disebut ‘demam’ sebenarnya ialah ‘keletihan’. Tetapi dalam kalangan manusia, wahai yang mengetahui dharma, penderitaan yang sama ini memang dikenali dengan nama ‘demam’, wahai Bhārata.”

Word by Word

• शार्टूलेषु: among tigers
• शार्टूलेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शार्टूल
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Plural

• अथ: now/then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ

• धर्मज्ञ: O knower of dharma
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्मज्ञ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• श्रमः: fatigue/exertion
• श्रमः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• ज्वरः: fever
• ज्वरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: ज्वर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• इह: here/in this context
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इह

• उच्यते: is called/is said
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Present, Passive, Third, Singular

• मानुषेषु: among humans
• मानुषेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मानुष
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Plural

• तु: but/however
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• धर्मज्ञ: O knower of dharma
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्मज्ञ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• ज्वरः: fever
• ज्वरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: ज्वर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• नाम: by name/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नाम

• एषः: this
• एषः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• भारत: O Bharata
• Type: Noun
• Root: भारत
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Bharata (Yudhishthira)
• tigers
• humans

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma highlights that the same experience can be classified differently across beings: what is ‘fever’ for humans is described as mere ‘fatigue’ among tigers. The point supports careful discernment in naming, diagnosing, and judging conditions—an ethical caution against assuming one standard fits all.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva dialogue, Bhīṣma continues instructing Yudhiṣṭhira (addressed as Bhārata and dharmajña), using a comparative example from animal life to clarify how terms and conditions are understood differently in different contexts.