Shloka 63

Varṇa-dharma and Rājadharma: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Normative Outline (वर्णधर्म-राजधर्म-प्रश्नोत्तरम्)

Devanagari script

चैत्यद्रुमावमर्दश्व॒ रोध: कर्मानुशासनम्‌ | अपस्करो5थ वसनं तथोपायाश्ष वर्णिता:

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | caityadrumāvamardaś ca rodhaḥ karmānuśāsanam | apaskaro 'tha vasanaṃ tathopāyāś ca varṇitāḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma berkata: Dalam risalah itu turut dihuraikan langkah-langkah siasah dan peperangan—seperti memusnahkan pokok-pokok suci (pokok caitya) di ibu kota musuh, mengepung serta memblokade tempat kediaman dan kotanya, dan helah-helah lain—di samping ajaran tentang kerja-kerja yang menghasilkan seperti pertanian dan pertukangan, pembinaan pelbagai bahagian kereta perang, cara yang wajar untuk menetap di desa dan kota, serta banyak ikhtiar praktikal untuk menyara kehidupan.

Word by Word

• चैत्यद्रुम: sacred tree
• चैत्यद्रुम: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: चैत्यद्रुम
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अवमर्द: crushing; destruction
• अवमर्द: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अवमर्द
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• रोधः: blockade; siege; obstruction
• रोधः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: रोध
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• कर्म: action; work
• कर्म: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्मन्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• अनुशासनम्: instruction; teaching
• अनुशासनम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अनुशासन
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• अपस्करः: equipment; implements; furnishings
• अपस्करः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अपस्कर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अथ: then; also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ

• वसनम्: dwelling; residence
• वसनम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वसन
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• तथा: likewise; also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• उपायाः: means; measures; strategies
• उपायाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: उपाय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• वर्णिताः: described
• Type: Verb
• Root: वर्णित
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural, Passive (PPP)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• enemy capital (śatruki rājadhānī, implied by the prose gloss)
• caitya-trees (sacred trees)
• chariot (ratha, implied by the prose gloss)
• village (grāma, implied by the prose gloss)
• town/city (nagara, implied by the prose gloss)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma highlights that governance and worldly success rely on disciplined instruction in practical arts: strategic measures (upāya) in conflict, economic productivity (agriculture and crafts), and technical knowledge (like chariot construction). The verse situates such skills within an ordered body of teaching, implying that effective rule requires trained competence, not impulse.

What is happening in the narrative?

Within Bhishma’s extended instruction in the Shanti Parva, he is summarizing what a certain authoritative teaching/text contains: methods for weakening an enemy (including siege and symbolic targets like sacred trees), guidance on occupations and crafts, and practical rules for settlement and sustaining life.