Shloka 8

Satya–Anṛta Viveka (Discrimination between Truth and Falsehood) | सत्य–अनृत विवेकः

Devanagari script

किमाश्चर्य च यन्मूढो धर्मकामो<प्यधर्मवित्‌ । सुमहत्‌ प्राप्तुयात्‌ पुण्यं गड़्ायामिव कौशिक:

Transliteration

kim āścaryaṃ ca yan mūḍho dharmakāmo 'py adharmavit | sumahat prāpnuyāt puṇyaṃ gaṅgāyām iva kauśikaḥ ||

Translation

Disse Bhīṣma: Que há de surpreendente nisto—que um homem iludido, embora deseje o dharma, ainda possa ser alguém que compreende (ou pratica) o adharma e, assim, alcançar um resultado imensamente grande? Do mesmo modo, como Kauśika às margens do Gaṅgā, pode-se obter grande mérito de um modo que parece paradoxal. Pois, na vida moral, os desfechos por vezes parecem invertidos: quem mira a retidão pode cair numa consequência injusta, enquanto outro—até por atos que parecem censuráveis—pode acumular mérito, conforme a intenção, o contexto e o sutil operar do dharma.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'kim āścaryam', 'definition': 'what wonder? what is surprising?'}, {'term': 'mūḍhaḥ', 'definition': 'deluded, foolish, undiscerning person'}, {'term': 'dharmakāmaḥ', 'definition': 'one who desires dharma

• intent on righteousness'}, {'term': 'api', 'definition': 'even though

• although'}, {'term': 'adharmavit', 'definition': 'knower of adharma / one aligned with adharma (context-dependent nuance)'}, {'term': 'sumahat', 'definition': 'very great, immense'}, {'term': 'prāpnuyāt', 'definition': 'may obtain, may attain'}, {'term': 'puṇyam', 'definition': 'merit

• auspicious moral fruit'}, {'term': 'gaṅgāyām', 'definition': 'in/on the Gaṅgā (river)

• at the Gaṅgā'}, {'term': 'iva', 'definition': 'like, as'}, {'term': 'kauśikaḥ', 'definition': 'Kauśika (a figure used as an exemplum in dharma-discourse)'}]

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Gaṅgā
• Kauśika

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma highlights the subtlety of dharma: moral outcomes are not always straightforward. A person who intends dharma may still produce adharma due to delusion or misjudgment, while another may gain merit through actions that appear questionable when judged superficially. Dharma must be assessed with attention to intention, context, and the larger ethical order.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma addresses apparent contradictions in moral causality. He uses the exemplum of “Kauśika on the Gaṅgā” to illustrate that merit and demerit can accrue in unexpected ways, preparing the listener to accept nuanced, case-based ethical reasoning rather than rigid rules.