Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 31 Shloka 12 - Mahabharata | Sanskrit | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 12

Vītahavya’s Attainment of Brāhmaṇya (Vītahavya–Vipratva) | वीतहव्यस्य ब्राह्मण्यप्राप्तिः

Devanagari script

काण्डपृष्ठिश्चिरं काल॑ तत्रैव परिवर्तते । ततस्तु त्रिशते काले लभते जपतामपि

Transliteration

Bhīṣma uvāca | kāṇḍapṛṣṭhiś ciraṃ kālaṃ tatraiva parivartate | tatas tu triśate kāle labhate japatām api |

Translation

काण्डपृष्ठिश्चिरं कालं तत्रैव परिवर्तते । ततस्तु त्रिशते काले लभते जपतामपि ॥

Word by Word

काण्डपृष्ठिःthe (being) with a back like a stalk/rod; a kind of creature (kāṇḍapṛṣṭhi)

चिरम्for a long time

कालम्time (duration)

तत्रthere

एवindeed/only

परिवर्ततेkeeps turning about / remains revolving

ततःthen/from that

तुbut/indeed

त्रिशतेwhen three hundred (years) have (passed)

कालेin time/at the time

लभतेobtains/attains (gets)

जपताम्of those who recite (japa)

अपिeven/also

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Gāyatrī (implied by the Hindi gloss)

Brāhmaṇa (a Brahmin householder who performs japa)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores karmic continuity and gradual uplift: after prolonged suffering in a lower birth, merit associated with sacred recitation (japa), even minimal such as Gāyatrī-japa, becomes a cause for obtaining a higher human birth in a Brahmin household.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma describes a being remaining for a very long time in the same womb/state, and after three hundred years passing, gaining rebirth connected with a Brahmin who practices japa—framed as a transition from a degraded condition toward a more dharmic human context.