Shloka 36

Cyavana’s Water-Vow and the Ethics of Cohabitation (स्नेह-सम्वास-धर्मः)

Devanagari script

अथ चेदन्यथा कुर्याद्‌ यदि कामाद्‌ युधिष्ठिर । यथा ब्राह्मण चाण्डाल: पूर्वदृष्टस्तथैव स:

Transliteration

atha ced anyathā kuryād yadi kāmād yudhiṣṭhira | yathā brāhmaṇa-cāṇḍālaḥ pūrvadṛṣṭas tathaiva saḥ ||

Translation

ଭୀଷ୍ମ କହିଲେ—ହେ ଯୁଧିଷ୍ଠିର! ଯଦି କୌଣସି ବ୍ରାହ୍ମଣ କାମବଶ ହୋଇ ଶାସ୍ତ୍ରବିଧିର ବିପରୀତ ଆଚରଣ କରେ, ତେବେ ସେ ପୂର୍ବେ ବର୍ଣ୍ଣିତ ‘ବ୍ରାହ୍ମଣ-ଚାଣ୍ଡାଳ’ ପରି ହିଁ ଗଣ୍ୟ ହୁଏ।

Word by Word

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

• चेत्: if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: चेत्

• अन्यथा: otherwise/contrarily
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अन्यथा

• कुर्यात्: should do
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Vidhi-lin (optative), 3, singular, parasmaipada

• यदि: if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदि

• कामात्: from desire; out of lust
• कामात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: काम
• Form: masculine, ablative, singular

• युधिष्ठिर: O Yudhiṣṭhira
• Type: Noun
• Root: युधिष्ठिर
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

• यथा: as/just as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• ब्राह्मणः: a Brahmin
• ब्राह्मणः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्राह्मण
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• चाण्डालः: a caṇḍāla (outcaste)
• चाण्डालः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: चाण्डाल
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• पूर्वदृष्टः: previously stated/seen
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पूर्वदृष्ट
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• तथा: thus/in the same way
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• सः: he/that (person)
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Brāhmaṇa
• Cāṇḍāla

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma is upheld by disciplined conduct; if a brāhmaṇa, overcome by kāma, acts against the śāstric path, he is treated as fallen—likened to a ‘brāhmaṇa-cāṇḍāla’—showing that ethical behavior, not mere status, determines moral standing.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira on right conduct, he reinforces an earlier point: deviation from prescribed restraint and duty—especially under the force of desire—leads to social and moral degradation, expressed through the strong comparison to an outcaste-like condition.