Shloka 37

Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154

Devanagari script

यथाकृता च भूतेषु प्राप्पते सुखदु:खिता । गृहीत्वा जायते जन्तुर्दु:खानि च सुखानि च

Transliteration

yathākṛtā ca bhūteṣu prāpyate sukhaduḥkhitā | gṛhītvā jāyate jantur duḥkhāni ca sukhāni ca ||

Translation

यथाकृतं च भूतेषु प्राप्नोति सुखदुःखिताम् । गृहीत्वा जायते जन्तुः दुःखानि च सुखानि च ॥

Word by Word

यथाas, according to

कृताdone, performed

चand

भूतेषुamong beings

प्राप्यतेis obtained, is reached

सुखदुःखिताhappiness-and-sorrow (as a state), happy/sorrowful condition

गृहीत्वाhaving taken

जायतेis born, comes into being

जन्तुःa creature, living being

दुःखानिsorrows, sufferings

चand

सुखानिhappinesses, pleasures

चand

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

jantu (embodied creature / living being)

bhūta (living beings)

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?

Bhīṣma teaches karmic moral causality: the happiness and suffering one experiences are shaped by how one has acted toward other beings; the embodied self is born bearing the results of past deeds and therefore encounters both pleasure and pain.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhīṣma continues advising Yudhiṣṭhira by explaining why beings undergo mixed experiences in life—because they are born carrying the consequences of prior actions.