Shloka 112

Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment

Parāśara’s Instruction

Devanagari script

काम कामद कामघ्न तृप्तातृप्तविचारिणे । सर्व सर्वद सर्वघ्न संध्याराग नमोस्तु ते

Transliteration

kāma kāmada kāmaghna tṛptātṛptavicāriṇe | sarva sarvada sarvaghna sandhyārāga namo'stu te ||

Translation

काम कामद कामघ्न तृप्तातृप्तविचारिणे। सर्व सर्वद सर्वघ्न संध्याराग नमोऽस्तु ते॥

Word by Word

कामO Desire (personified)

कामदgiver of desires

कामघ्नdestroyer of desires

तृप्तातृप्तविचारिणेto the discerner of the satisfied and the unsatisfied

सर्वO All (all-pervading one)

सर्वदgiver of all

सर्वघ्नdestroyer of all

संध्यारागO one of twilight-hue / twilight-redness

नमःsalutation

अस्तुmay it be

तेto you

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Kāma (Desire)

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?

Desire (kāma) is portrayed as ambivalent: it can fulfill aims (kāmada) yet also annihilate them (kāmaghna), and it keeps the mind oscillating between satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Ethical life requires discerning this force and governing it so that it does not overpower dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction, Bhīṣma delivers reflective teachings to guide conduct after the war. Here he offers a reverential address to Kāma, recognizing its cosmic and psychological power—both creative and destructive—within the moral analysis of human motivation.