Shloka 20

Devanagari script

गुरुतल्पी शिलां तप्तामायसीमभिसंविशेत्‌ | अवकृत्यात्मन: शेफं प्रव्रजेदूर्ध्वदर्शन:

Transliteration

gurutalpī śilāṁ taptām āyasīm abhi-saṁviśet | avakṛtyātmanaḥ śephaṁ pravrajed ūrdhva-darśanaḥ ||

Translation

Вьяса сказал: «Тот, кто осквернил ложе учителя, должен лечь на раскалённую железную плиту; или, отсекши свой орган, пусть уйдёт в отречение, держа взор устремлённым вверх».

Word by Word

• गुरुतल्पी: one who violates the guru’s bed (i.e., commits adultery with the teacher’s wife)
• गुरुतल्पी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुरुतल्पिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• शिलाम्: a stone/slab
• शिलाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिला
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• तप्ताम्: heated, red-hot
• तप्ताम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तप्त
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• आयसीम्: made of iron
• आयसीम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आयस
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• अभिसंविशेत्: should enter/lie upon
• Type: Verb
• Root: विश्
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• अवकृत्य: having cut off
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कृत् (अव + कृ)
• Form: Gerund (Ktva)

• आत्मनः: of oneself
• Type: Noun
• Root: आत्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• शेफम्: penis
• शेफम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शेफ
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• प्रव्रजेत्: should go forth (as an ascetic), should depart
• Type: Verb
• Root: व्रज् (प्र + व्रज्)
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• ऊर्ध्वदर्शनः: with gaze directed upward
• ऊर्ध्वदर्शनः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ऊर्ध्वदर्शन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa
• guru (teacher)
• guru’s bed (gurutalpa)
• heated iron slab (taptā āyasī śilā)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that violating the sanctity of the guru’s household is among the gravest ethical breaches and demands extreme expiation; it emphasizes the seriousness of trust, self-control, and accountability within the guru–disciple relationship.

What is happening in the narrative?

In a dharma-discourse within Śānti Parva, Vyāsa states prescribed expiations for the ‘gurutalpa’ offense: either undergoing a lethal/near-lethal austerity (lying on a heated iron slab) or self-mutilation followed by renunciant wandering with an upward gaze, signaling withdrawal from worldly desire.