Shloka 83

तीर्थवंशोपदेशः

Tīrtha-vaṃśa Upadeśa: Instruction on the Fruits of Sacred Waters

Devanagari script

एते पूर्व विनिर्दिष्टा: प्रोक्ता निरयगामिन: । भागिन: स्वर्गलोकस्य वक्ष्यामि भरतर्षभ

Transliteration

ete pūrva-vinirdiṣṭāḥ proktā niraya-gāminaḥ | bhāginaḥ svarga-lokasya vakṣyāmi bharatarṣabha ||

Translation

ਭੀਸ਼ਮ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ—ਇਹ ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਹੀ ਨਰਕਗਾਮੀ ਵਜੋਂ ਨਿਰਧਾਰਤ ਕਰਕੇ ਕਹੇ ਜਾ ਚੁੱਕੇ ਹਨ। ਹੁਣ, ਹੇ ਭਰਤਸ਼੍ਰੇਸ਼ਠ, ਮੈਂ ਉਹਨਾਂ ਦਾ ਵਰਣਨ ਕਰਾਂਗਾ ਜੋ ਸਵਰਗਲੋਕ ਦੇ ਭਾਗੀ ਹੁੰਦੇ ਹਨ—ਸੁਣ।

Word by Word

• {'ete': 'these (people/types)', 'pūrva': 'earlier, previously', 'vinirdiṣṭāḥ': 'clearly indicated, specifically pointed out', 'proktāḥ': 'declared, stated', 'niraya-gāminaḥ': 'those who go to hell

• hell-bound', 'bhāginaḥ': 'sharers, recipients of a portion

• those entitled to a share', 'svarga-lokasya': 'of the world of heaven

• of Svarga', 'vakṣyāmi': 'I shall speak

• I will explain', 'bharatarṣabha': 'O best/bull of the Bharatas (address to Yudhiṣṭhira)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Bharatarshabha (Yudhishthira)
• Niraya (hell)
• Svargaloka (heaven)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Moral actions have consequences: some behaviors lead to hellish outcomes, while virtuous conduct makes one a rightful ‘sharer’ in heaven. Bhīṣma frames the teaching as a structured ethical taxonomy—first the hell-bound, then the heaven-bound.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira in the Anuśāsana Parva, he transitions from a previously given list of sinful, hell-leading types to a forthcoming description of those whose conduct leads to Svarga.