Shloka 9

Adhyāya 9: Pratiśruta-Dāna

The Duty to Fulfill Promised Gifts

Devanagari script

तौ सखायोौ पुरा ह्ास्तां मानुषत्वे परंतप । अन्यां योनिं समापन्नौ शार्गालीं वानरीं तथा

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca |

tau sakhāyau purā hy āstāṃ mānuṣatve parantapa |

anyāṃ yoniṃ samāpannau śārgālīṃ vānarīṃ tathā ||

Translation

ਭੀਸ਼ਮ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ— ਹੇ ਸ਼ਤਰੂਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਤਪਾਉਣ ਵਾਲੇ! ਉਹ ਦੋਵੇਂ ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਮਨੁੱਖ-ਜਨਮ ਵਿੱਚ ਇਕ-ਦੂਜੇ ਦੇ ਮਿੱਤਰ ਸਨ; ਫਿਰ ਅਗਲੇ ਜਨਮ ਵਿੱਚ ਪ੍ਰਵੇਸ਼ ਕਰ ਕੇ ਸਿਆਲ ਅਤੇ ਵਾਨਰ ਦੀਆਂ ਯੋਨੀਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਪ੍ਰਾਪਤ ਹੋਏ।

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'tau', 'definition': 'those two'}, {'term': 'sakhāyau', 'definition': 'two friends, companions'}, {'term': 'purā', 'definition': 'formerly, in the past'}, {'term': 'hi', 'definition': 'indeed, surely'}, {'term': 'āstām', 'definition': 'they were (dual, imperfect)'}, {'term': 'mānuṣatve', 'definition': 'in human state/birth'}, {'term': 'parantapa', 'definition': 'O scorcher of enemies (epithet of the king, typically Yudhiṣṭhira)'}, {'term': 'anyām', 'definition': 'another, different'}, {'term': 'yonim', 'definition': 'womb

• species/state of existence'}, {'term': 'samāpannau', 'definition': 'having attained, having entered (dual)'}, {'term': 'śārgālīm', 'definition': 'jackal-natured

• the jackal’s (feminine form used for the species)'}, {'term': 'vānarīm', 'definition': 'monkey-natured

• the monkey’s (feminine form used for the species)'}, {'term': 'tathā', 'definition': 'and likewise

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Parantapa (addressed king, i.e., Yudhiṣṭhira)
• two friends (unnamed here)
• jackal
• monkey

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse introduces a karmic exemplum: even intimate human relationships can reappear in altered forms across births, and one’s ethical conduct—especially regarding dharma and giving—determines future states of existence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma begins recounting a story (the dialogue of the jackal and the monkey) by stating that two former human friends were reborn as a jackal and a monkey, setting the stage for a moral discussion within the Dāna-dharma section.