Shloka 144

मानसतीर्थ-शौचप्रशंसा | Praise of the ‘Mental Tīrtha’ and the Marks of Purity

Devanagari script

दम्भद्रोहनिवृत्तेषु कृतबुद्धिषु भारत । अचलेष्वप्रकम्पेषु मा ते भूदत्र संशय:

Transliteration

dambha-droha-nivṛtteṣu kṛta-buddhiṣu bhārata | acaleṣv aprakampeṣu mā te bhūd atra saṁśayaḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma disse: “Ó Bhārata, quanto àqueles que se afastaram da hipocrisia e da malícia—cujo entendimento está purificado e firme, cuja natureza é estável e inabalável—não haja em ti qualquer dúvida neste assunto. Para tais grandes de alma, disciplinados, vigilantes e de mente pura, expus em detalhe esta observância do jejum.”

Word by Word

• {'dambha': 'hypocrisy, ostentatious religiosity', 'droha': 'malice, treachery, hostile intent', 'nivṛtta': 'turned away from, ceased from', 'kṛta-buddhi': 'one whose mind is made up

• resolved, purified in intention', 'bhārata': 'O descendant of Bharata (address to Yudhiṣṭhira)', 'acala': 'immovable, steady', 'aprakampa': 'unshaken, not trembling

• firm', 'mā': 'do not', 'te': 'for you / in you', 'bhūt': 'let it be (optative of √bhū)', 'atra': 'here

• in this matter', 'saṁśaya': 'doubt, uncertainty', 'upavāsa': 'fasting

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Bhārata (Yudhiṣṭhira)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Fasting and religious observances bear fruit when undertaken by people of steady character—free from hypocrisy and malice, with purified resolve; therefore one should practice such vows with inner sincerity and without doubt.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma continues instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he concludes or reinforces his detailed explanation of the fasting observance, assuring Yudhiṣṭhira that it is meant for disciplined, pure, and unwavering practitioners.