Shloka 15

Brahmacarya-Upāya: Jñāna, Śauca, and the Mind’s Role in Desire (शान्ति पर्व, अध्याय २०७)

Devanagari script

तमुग्रमुग्रकर्माणमुग्रं कर्म समास्थितम्‌ । ब्रह्मणोपचितिं कुर्वन्‌ जघान पुरुषोत्तम:

Transliteration

tam ugram ugrakarmāṇam ugraṁ karma samāsthitam | brahmaṇopacitiṁ kurvan jaghāna puruṣottamaḥ ||

Translation

Бхишма сказал: «То свирепое существо — ужасное по природе и преданное страшным деяниям — решилось на грозный замысел. Ради блага и защиты Брахмы Верховная Личность (Вишну) сразил его».

Word by Word

• तम्: him/that one
• तम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• उग्रम्: fierce/terrible
• उग्रम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उग्र
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• उग्रकर्माणम्: one of fierce deeds
• उग्रकर्माणम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उग्रकर्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• उग्रम्: terrible
• उग्रम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उग्र
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• कर्म: deed/action
• कर्म: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्मन्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• समास्थितम्: having undertaken/engaged in
• समास्थितम्: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-आ-स्था
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular, Past passive participle (क्त)

• ब्रह्मणः: of Brahmā
• ब्रह्मणः: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• उपचितिम्: benefit/welfare (increase, prosperity)
• उपचितिम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: उपचिति
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• कुर्वन्: doing/making
• कुर्वन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, Present active participle (शतृ)

• जघान: slew/killed
• Type: Verb
• Root: हन्
• Form: Perfect (लिट्), Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• पुरुषोत्तमः: the Supreme Person (Vishnu)
• पुरुषोत्तमः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरुषोत्तम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Puruṣottama (Viṣṇu)
• Brahmā
• Asura (implied by context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Force becomes ethically meaningful when it is exercised without personal malice and for the protection of dharma—here framed as safeguarding Brahmā and the cosmic order—rather than for domination or revenge.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma describes a fierce, violence-prone being who had committed himself to a dreadful act; Puruṣottama (Viṣṇu) kills him specifically to secure Brahmā’s welfare, presenting the slaying as a protective, order-restoring intervention.