Shloka 9

Śvetadvīpa-varṇana and Śāstra-pravartana (Śānti Parva 322)

Devanagari script

उपतिष्ठति तिष्ठन्तं गच्छन्तमनुगच्छति । करोति कुर्वत: कर्म च्छायेवानुविधीयते,जिस-जिस मनुष्यने जैसा कर्म किया है, वह उसके पीछे लगा रहता है। यदि कर्ता पुरुष शीघ्रतापूर्वक दौड़ता है तो वह भी उतनी ही तेजीके साथ उसके पीछे जाता है। जब वह सोता है, तब उसका कर्मफल भी उसीके साथ सो जाता है। जब वह खड़ा होता है, तब वह भी उसके पास ही खड़ा रहता है और जब मनुष्य चलता है, तब वह भी उसके पीछे- पीछे चलने लगता है। इतना ही नहीं, कोई कार्य करते समय भी कर्म-संस्कार उसका साथ नहीं छोड़ता। सदा छायाके समान पीछे लगा रहता है

Transliteration

upatiṣṭhati tiṣṭhantaṃ gacchantam anugacchati | karoti kurvataḥ karma chāyevānuvidhīyate ||

Translation

उपतिष्ठति तिष्ठन्तं गच्छन्तमनुगच्छति । करोति कुर्वतः कर्म छायेवानुविधीयते ॥

Word by Word

उपतिष्ठतिapproaches, stands near

तिष्ठन्तम्one who is standing

गच्छन्तम्one who is going

अनुगच्छतिfollows

करोतिdoes, performs

कुर्वतःof (one) doing

कर्मdeed, action

छाययाby/like a shadow

इवlike, as

अनुविधीयतेis followed/attends after

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

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?

A person cannot escape the consequences of their actions: karma adheres to the doer as closely as a shadow, accompanying them in every state—standing, moving, or acting—until it bears fruit.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma delivers a moral maxim to Yudhiṣṭhira: he illustrates, through the image of a shadow, how deeds and their results inevitably follow the agent.