Shloka 753

ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana

River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor

Devanagari script

समरेषु च विक्रान्तं पर्याप्त॑ तन्निदर्शनम्‌ । पहले मैं जो पुरुषार्थ प्रकट कर चुका हूँ, उसको सबसे अधिक तुम्हीं जानते हो। कई बारके युद्धोंमें तुम मेरा पराक्रम देख चुके हो। इस समय एक ही दृष्टान्त देना काफी होगा

Transliteration

samareṣu ca vikrāntaṃ paryāptaṃ tan-nidarśanam |

Translation

भीष्म उवाच—समरेषु च विक्रान्तं पर्याप्तं तन्निदर्शनम्। मया पूर्वं यः पुरुषार्थः प्रदर्शितः स त्वयैवातिशयेन विदितः। बहुषु युद्धेषु पुनः पुनर्मम पराक्रमं दृष्टवानसि। अतः अस्मिन् काले एक एव दृष्टान्तः पर्याप्तः॥

Word by Word

• {'samareṣu': 'in battles, in combats (locative plural of samara)', 'ca': 'and', 'vikrāntam': 'valor, heroic prowess

• also ‘having advanced boldly’', 'paryāptam': 'sufficient, adequate, enough', 'tat': 'that', 'nidarśanam': 'example, illustration, proof by instance'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma frames ethical credibility through lived conduct: when character and duty have been repeatedly demonstrated, elaborate self-praise is unnecessary—one clear instance can serve as sufficient evidence of steadfast resolve and martial virtue.

What is happening in the narrative?

In his instruction during the Shanti Parva, Bhishma refers to his well-known battlefield record. Addressing his listener (implicitly someone who has seen his past wars), he says that his valor is already familiar and that a single illustrative example will suffice for the point he is making.