Shloka 6

Kīṭopākhyāna: Prajā-pālana as Kṣatra-vrata and the Attainment of Brāhmaṇya

Devanagari script

भीष्म उवाच एवमेतन्महाबाहो यथा वदसि भारत | विवर्जिते तु बहवो गुणा: कौरवनन्दन । ये भवन्ति मनुष्याणां तान्‌ मे निगदतः शृणु

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca evam etan mahābāho yathā vadasi bhārata | vivarjite tu bahavo guṇāḥ kauravanandana | ye bhavanti manuṣyāṇāṃ tān me nigadataḥ śṛṇu ||

Translation

भीष्म उवाच— एवमेतन्महाबाहो यथा वदसि भारत। विवर्जिते तु बहवो गुणाः कौरवनन्दन, ये भवन्ति मनुष्याणां; तान् मे निगदतः शृणु।

Word by Word

• {'bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', 'evam etat': 'thus indeed

• it is so', 'mahābāho': 'O mighty-armed one (honorific address)', 'yathā': 'as

• in the manner that', 'vadasi': 'you say

• you speak', 'bhārata': 'O Bharata (descendant of Bharata

• address to a Kuru prince)', 'vivarjite': 'when avoided/abstained from

• upon giving up', 'tu': 'but

• however', 'bahavaḥ': 'many', 'guṇāḥ': 'virtues

• merits/benefits', 'kauravanandana': 'O joy of the Kurus (honorific address)', 'ye': 'which

• those that', 'bhavanti': 'arise

• occur', 'manuṣyāṇām': 'of human beings', 'tān': 'those (benefits/virtues)', 'me': 'from me

• my', 'nigadataḥ': 'as I declare/state

• while I am telling', 'śṛṇu': 'listen

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Bharata (address)
• Kauravanandana (address)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma affirms the listener’s point and introduces a dharmic claim: abstaining from meat leads to many virtues and benefits, which he is about to enumerate.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anushasana Parva’s instruction on conduct, Bhishma addresses a Kuru prince and transitions into a structured explanation of the merits that follow from giving up meat.