Shloka 170

Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)

Devanagari script

नियमो होषु वर्णेषु यतीनां शून्यवासिता । शून्यमावेशयन्त्या च मया कि कस्य दूषितम्‌,इन सभी वर्णोमें यह नियम प्रसिद्ध है कि संन्यासियोंको एकान्त स्थानमें रहना चाहिये। मैंने भी आपके शून्य शरीरमें निवास करके किसकी किस वस्तुको दूषित कर दिया है?

Transliteration

niyamo hoṣu varṇeṣu yatīnāṁ śūnyavāsitā | śūnyam āveśayantyā ca mayā kiṁ kasya dūṣitam ||

Translation

नियमो ह्येषु वर्णेषु यतीनां शून्यवासिता । शून्यमावेशयन्त्या च मया किं कस्य दूषितम् ॥

Word by Word

नियमःrule, observance

ह्येषुindeed, in these

वर्णेषुamong the varnas/classes

यतीनाम्of ascetics/renunciants

शून्यवासिताdwelling in solitude/emptiness

शून्यम्empty, solitary (place/body)

आवेशयन्त्याby (me) entering/causing to enter

चand

मयाby me

किम्what

कस्यof whom

दूषितम्spoiled, defiled

Speaker

भीष्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse appeals to a recognized dharmic norm: a renunciant’s discipline includes living in seclusion. On that basis, Bhīṣma argues that entering an ‘empty’ body (i.e., one lacking a rightful personal claim) does not constitute moral pollution or violation of another’s property—raising the ethical question of what counts as true defilement: physical contact or wrongful appropriation.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is responding defensively in a moral-legal register. He cites a generally accepted rule about ascetics and solitude, then uses it to justify his own act of ‘dwelling’ in an ‘empty’ body, challenging the listener to specify who has been harmed or what has been tainted by his presence.