Shloka 15

भिक्षुलक्षणम्—एकचर्याः, अहिंसा, कैवल्याश्रमः

Marks of the Mendicant: Solitary Wandering, Non-Injury, and the Kaivalya-Discipline

Devanagari script

पार्थिवानि द्वयान्याहुर्मध्यमान्यधमानि तु । मध्यमानि विशिष्टानि जातिधर्मोपधारणात्‌

Transliteration

pārthivāni dvayāny āhur madhyamāny adhamāni tu | madhyamāni viśiṣṭāni jātidharmopadhāraṇāt ||

Translation

ପାର୍ଥିବ (ମନୁଷ୍ୟ) ମଧ୍ୟ ଦୁଇ ପ୍ରକାର—ମଧ୍ୟମ ଓ ଅଧମ। ସେମାନଙ୍କ ମଧ୍ୟରେ ମଧ୍ୟମ ମନୁଷ୍ୟ ଅଧମଠାରୁ ଶ୍ରେଷ୍ଠ; କାରଣ ସେମାନେ ଜାତି-ଧର୍ମକୁ ଧାରଣ କରନ୍ତି।

Word by Word

• पार्थिवानि: kings / men (lit. earthly ones)
• पार्थिवानि: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्थिव
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• द्वयानि: twofold / of two kinds
• द्वयानि: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्वय
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• आहुः: they say / have said
• Type: Verb
• Root: अह्
• Form: Perfect (Paroksha), 3rd, Plural, Parasmaipada

• मध्यमानि: middling / medium (class)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मध्यम
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• अधमानि: lowest / base (class)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अधम
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

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

• मध्यमानि: the middling ones
• मध्यमानि: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मध्यम
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• विशिष्टानि: distinguished / superior
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विशिष्ट
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• जाति-धर्म-उपधारणात्: because of upholding the duties of one’s class (jati-dharma)
• जाति-धर्म-उपधारणात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: जातिधर्मोपधारण
• Form: Neuter, Ablative, Singular

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Human beings are ethically distinguished by conduct: those who uphold the duties and norms appropriate to their station (jāti-dharma) are ‘madhyama’ and are considered superior to those who neglect such obligations and become ‘adhama’.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the didactic discourse of the Śānti Parva, Vyāsa offers a moral classification of people, contrasting the ‘middling/proper’ with the ‘base,’ and grounds the distinction in adherence to prescribed dharma.