Shloka 8

Sanatsujāta on Vedic Learning, Truth (Satya), and the Discipline of Dama–Tyāga–Apramāda

Devanagari script

शरीरमेतौ कुरुत: पिता माता च भारत । आचार्यशास्ता या जाति: सा पुण्या साजरामरा,भारत! यद्यपि माता और पिता-ये ही दोनों इस शरीरको जन्म देते हैं, तथापि आचार्यके उपदेशसे जो जन्म प्राप्त होता है, वह परम पवित्र और अजर-अमर है

Transliteration

śarīram etau kurutaḥ pitā mātā ca bhārata | ācāryaśāstā yā jātiḥ sā puṇyā sājarāmarā ||

Translation

Sanatsujāta berkata: “Wahai Bhārata, bapa dan ibu bersama-sama melahirkan tubuh jasmani ini. Namun ‘kelahiran’ yang terbit melalui ajaran dan disiplin guru adalah penyucian yang tertinggi—suatu kelahiran yang tidak menua dan tidak mati.”

Word by Word

शरीरम्body

एतौthese two

कुरुतःmake, produce

पिताfather

माताmother

चand

भारतO Bharata

आचार्यःteacher, preceptor

शास्ताinstructor, one who teaches

यःwho

जातिःbirth, (second) birth

साthat

पुण्याholy, meritorious

साthat

अजरामराnot aging and not dying (ageless, deathless)

भारतO Bharata

Speaker

सनत्सुजात उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sanatsujāta

Bhārata (addressed person, i.e., a Kuru descendant)

father

mother

ācārya (teacher)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Biological parents generate the body, but the ācārya’s instruction generates a higher ‘birth’—the awakening of right knowledge and disciplined living—which is called purifying and ‘unaging, deathless’ because it leads toward enduring spiritual realization rather than perishable bodily existence.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Sanatsujātīya section of Udyoga Parva, Sanatsujāta instructs the Kuru elder (addressed as ‘Bhārata’) on deeper dharma and liberation-oriented wisdom, emphasizing the transformative power of the teacher’s guidance over mere physical lineage.