Shloka 54

Adhyātma–Adhibhūta–Adhidaivata Correspondences and the Triguṇa Lakṣaṇas (Śānti-parva 301)

Devanagari script

भीष्म उवाच पज्च दोषानू्‌ प्रभो देहे प्रवदन्ति मनीषिण: । मार्गज्ञा: कापिला: सांख्या: शृूणु तानरिसूदन

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca pañca doṣān u prabho dehe pravadanti manīṣiṇaḥ | mārgajñāḥ kāpilāḥ sāṅkhyāḥ śṛṇu tān arisūdana ||

Translation

भीष्म उवाच— पञ्च दोषान् प्रभो देहे प्रवदन्ति मनीषिणः । मार्गज्ञाः कापिलाः सांख्याः शृणु तान् अरिसूदन ॥

Word by Word

• {'bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', 'pañca': 'five', 'doṣān': 'faults, defects, blemishes', 'u': 'indeed

• an emphatic particle', 'prabho': 'O lord

• O master', 'dehe': 'in the body', 'pravadanti': 'they declare

• they state', 'manīṣiṇaḥ': 'sages

• reflective wise men', 'mārgajñāḥ': 'knowers of the path (right means/way)', 'kāpilāḥ': 'followers of Kapila

• Kapila’s tradition', 'sāṅkhyāḥ': 'adherents of Sāṅkhya philosophy', 'śṛṇu': 'listen', 'tān': 'those (i.e., the five defects)', 'arisūdana': 'O slayer of enemies (epithet of Yudhiṣṭhira)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Kapila
• Sāṅkhya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma introduces a Sāṅkhya-based ethical-psychological analysis: the embodied condition has identifiable “defects” that obstruct right understanding and liberation. Recognizing these faults is presented as a prerequisite for disciplined living and inner freedom.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva dialogue, Bhishma continues instructing Yudhiṣṭhira. Here he signals a transition into a doctrinal explanation drawn from Kapila’s Sāṅkhya, announcing that he will enumerate five defects found within the body and asking the king to listen.