Shloka 131

Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment

Parāśara’s Instruction

Devanagari script

अवर्णश्न सुवर्णश्र॒ वर्णकारो घनोपम: । सुवर्णनामा च तथा सुवर्णप्रिय एव च,आप वर्णरहित होनेके कारण अवर्ण और अच्छे वर्णवाले होनेसे सुवर्ण कहलाते हैं। आप वर्णोके निर्माता और मेघके समान हैं। आपके नाममें सुन्दर वर्णों (अक्षरों)-का उपयोग हुआ है, इसलिये आप सुवर्णनामा हैं तथा आपको श्रेष्ठ वर्ण प्रिय है

Transliteration

avarṇaś ca suvarṇaś ca varṇakāro ghanopamaḥ | suvarṇanāmā ca tathā suvarṇapriya eva ca ||

Translation

अवर्णः सुवर्णश्च वर्णकारो घनोपमः । सुवर्णनामा च तथा सुवर्णप्रिय एव च ॥

Word by Word

• {'avarṇaḥ': 'without varṇa

• beyond classification or description', 'suvarṇaḥ': 'excellent

• literally ‘good/golden varṇa’ (fine quality, auspiciousness)', 'varṇakāraḥ': 'maker/creator of varṇas

• producer of letters, sounds, or categories', 'ghana-upamaḥ': 'cloud-like

• comparable to a dense rain-cloud', 'suvarṇa-nāmā': 'one whose name is ‘suvarṇa’/whose name is made of beautiful syllables', 'tathā': 'and also

• likewise', 'suvarṇa-priyaḥ': 'one who is fond of what is excellent/pure

• lover of fine expression/letters', 'eva': 'indeed

• emphatic particle', 'ca': 'and'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse praises the Supreme as both beyond all limiting classifications (avarṇa) and yet the source of all refined qualities and expression (suvarṇa). It links divinity with the origin of speech/letters (varṇakāra) and uses the rain-cloud image to suggest fullness, power, and beneficence.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhishma delivers extended instruction and devotional praise. Here he is reciting epithets that glorify the deity as transcendent yet the creator of language and auspicious qualities, continuing a stuti-style enumeration of names and attributes.