Shanti Parva Adhyaya 276 Shloka 263 - Mahabharata | Sanskrit | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 263

Śreyas-nirdeśa (Discerning the Superior Good): Nārada–Gālava Saṃvāda

Devanagari script

छित्त्वैनां सुकृतो यान्ति नैनां छिन्दन्ति दुष्कृत: । गाँवोंमें रहकर विषय-भोगोंमें आसक्त होना--यह जीवको बाँधनेवाली रस्सीके समान है। केवल पुण्यात्मा पुरुष ही इसे काटकर निकल पाते हैं। पापी पुरुष इसे नहीं काट सकते

Transliteration

chittvaināṃ sukṛto yānti naināṃ chindanti duṣkṛtaḥ |

Translation

छित्त्वैनां सुकृतो यान्ति नैनां छिन्दन्ति दुष्कृतः । ग्रामेषु वसन् विषयभोगेष्वासक्तो भवति—एषा देहिनं बध्नातीव रज्जुः । पुण्यात्मान एव तां छित्त्वा निष्क्रामन्ति; पापात्मानो न शक्नुवन्ति छेत्तुम् ॥

Word by Word

छित्त्वाhaving cut

एनाम्this (her/it)

सुकृतःthe virtuous / doers of good deeds

यान्तिgo / depart

नnot

एनाम्this (her/it)

छिन्दन्तिcut

दुष्कृतःthe wicked / doers of evil deeds

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

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?

Attachment to sense-pleasures functions like a rope binding the soul; only the meritorious and self-controlled can cut this bond, while the sinful—enslaved by craving—cannot.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhishma continues advising Yudhishthira, using a terse contrast—sukṛta and duṣkṛta—to emphasize that inner freedom requires severing attachment.