Shloka 22

Bhīṣma’s Śara-śayyā Stuti to Vāsudeva and Yogic Preparation for Dehotsarga

Body-Relinquishment

Devanagari script

यस्मिन्‌ नित्ये तते तन्‍्तौ दृढे स्रगिव तिष्ठति

Transliteration

yasmin nitye tate tantau dṛḍhe srag iva tiṣṭhati

Translation

ਭੀਸ਼ਮ ਆਖਦੇ ਹਨ—ਉਸ ਨਿੱਤ, ਤਾਣੇ ਹੋਏ ਅਤੇ ਦ੍ਰਿੜ੍ਹ ਤੰਤੂ ਉੱਤੇ ਇਹ ਸਭ ਇਉਂ ਟਿਕਿਆ ਰਹਿੰਦਾ ਹੈ, ਜਿਵੇਂ ਮਜ਼ਬੂਤ ਡੋਰੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਪਰੋਈ ਮਾਲਾ।

Word by Word

• यस्मिन्: in which
• यस्मिन्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• नित्ये: in the eternal (one/thing)
• नित्ये: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नित्य
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• तते: in the stretched/spread (one/thing)
• तते: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तत
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• तन्तौ: in the thread
• तन्तौ: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: तन्तु
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• दृढे: in the firm/strong (one/thing)
• दृढे: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दृढ
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• स्रग्: garland
• स्रग्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्रज्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• इव: like/as if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• तिष्ठति: stands/remains
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्था
• Form: Present (Lat), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• thread (tantu)
• garland (srag)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Just as a garland depends on a firm thread to hold its many flowers together, ethical life and the multiplicity of duties remain integrated only when anchored in a stable, enduring principle (nitya).

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma continues his instruction, using a compact simile—garland on a thread—to illustrate how diverse elements depend on an underlying support that is steady and enduring.