Shloka 71

Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment

Parāśara’s Instruction

Devanagari script

सर्वतः:श्रुतिमँललोके सर्वमावृत्य तिष्ठसि । शंकुकर्ण महाकर्ण कुम्भकर्णारणवालय

Transliteration

sarvataḥ śrutim̐l loke sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhasi | śaṅkukarṇa mahākarṇa kumbhakarṇāraṇavālaya ||

Translation

ਤੁਸੀਂ ਲੋਕ ਵਿੱਚ ਹਰ ਥਾਂ ਸੁਣਨ ਦੀ ਸ਼ਕਤੀ ਨਾਲ ਯੁਕਤ ਹੋ ਕੇ, ਸਭ ਨੂੰ ਢੱਕ ਕੇ ਸਥਿਤ ਹੋ। ਹੇ ਸ਼ੰਕੁਕਰਣ, ਹੇ ਮਹਾਕਰਣ, ਹੇ ਕੁੰਭਕਰਣ, ਹੇ ਆਰਣਵਾਲਯ!

Word by Word

• सर्वतः: on all sides; everywhere
• सर्वतः: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सर्वतः
• Form: Avyaya (adverb)

• श्रुतिमत्: O one endowed with hearing; O attentive one
• श्रुतिमत्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: श्रुतिमत्
• Form: Masculine, vocative, singular

• लोके: in the world
• लोके: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोक
• Form: Masculine, locative, singular

• सर्वम्: all; everything
• सर्वम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun/Adjective
• Root: सर्व
• Form: Neuter, accusative, singular

• आवृत्य: having covered; enveloping
• आवृत्य: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-√वृ (वृञ् वरणे)
• Form: Absolutive (क्त्वा-न्त), indeclinable; from āvṛtya

• तिष्ठसि: you stand; you remain
• तिष्ठसि: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: √स्था (तिष्ठति)
• Form: Present tense, 2nd person, singular, parasmaipada

• शंकुकर्ण: O cone-eared one
• शंकुकर्ण: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शंकु-कर्ण
• Form: Masculine, vocative, singular

• महाकर्ण: O great-eared one
• महाकर्ण: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा-कर्ण
• Form: Masculine, vocative, singular

• कुम्भकर्ण: O pot-eared one (name/epithet)
• कुम्भकर्ण: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुम्भ-कर्ण
• Form: Masculine, vocative, singular

• अरणवालय: O one who is the enclosure/abode of the forest (epithet; reading uncertain)
• अरणवालय: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अरण-वालय
• Form: Masculine, vocative, singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Śaṅkukarṇa
• Mahākarṇa
• Kumbhakarṇa
• Āraṇavālaya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse functions as a laudatory address emphasizing all-pervading attentiveness—an ideal of heightened listening/awareness—by invoking names/epithets associated with extraordinary ears or hearing.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma, in the course of his Śānti Parva instruction, addresses a figure using a string of epithets/names (Śaṅkukarṇa, Mahākarṇa, Kumbhakarṇa, Āraṇavālaya), portraying them as one who ‘covers the world with hearing’—a rhetorical praise or invocation within the discourse.