Shloka 8

Śraddhā–Guṇa–Vibhāga Yoga (Faith and the Three Guṇas) — Mahābhārata Book 6, Chapter 39

Devanagari script

इन्द्रियार्थेषु वैराग्यमनहंकार4“5 एव च । जन्ममृत्युजराव्याधिदु:ःखदोषानुदर्शनम्‌

Transliteration

indriyārtheṣu vairāgyam anahaṅkāra eva ca | janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam ||

Translation

इन्द्रियार्थेषु वैराग्यमनहङ्कार एव च । जन्ममृत्युजराव्याधिदुःखदोषानुदर्शनम् ॥

Word by Word

इन्द्रियार्थेषुin the objects of the senses

वैराग्यम्dispassion

वैindeed

अनहंकारःabsence of egoism

एवonly/just

चand

जन्मbirth

मृत्युdeath

जराold age

व्याधिdisease

दुःखsorrow/suffering

दोषfault/defect

अनुदर्शनम्repeated seeing/constant contemplation

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Arjuna

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights inner qualifications for wisdom: (1) detachment from sensory objects (vairāgya), (2) absence of egoism (anahaṅkāra), and (3) sustained contemplation of the inherent defects in worldly existence—birth, death, aging, and disease—so that one does not mistake transient pleasures for lasting good.

What is happening in the narrative?

Within Bhīṣma Parva’s philosophical instruction, Arjuna is presented as voicing (or reciting) a list of virtues/insights that characterize right understanding. The focus shifts from battlefield externals to the ethical-psychological discipline needed for clarity and steadfastness.