Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 1 Shloka 22 - Mahabharata | Telugu | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 22

Śama-prāptiḥ — Gautamī–Lubdhaka–Pannaga–Mṛtyu–Kāla-saṃvāda

Restraint through the Analysis of Karma and Time

Devanagari script

प्लवन्ते धर्मलघवो लोके5म्भसि यथा प्लवा: | मज्जन्ति पापगुरव: शस्त्र स्कन्नमिवोदके

Transliteration

plavante dharma-laghavo loke 'mbhasi yathā plavāḥ | majjanti pāpa-guravaḥ śastra-skannam ivodake ||

Translation

భీష్ముడు అన్నాడు—“ధర్మాచరణచేత పాపభారాన్ని మోపుకోకుండా తమను తాము తేలికగా ఉంచుకునేవారు, నీటిపై తేలే పడవలవలె సంసారసముద్రాన్ని దాటుతారు. పాపంతో భారమైపోయినవారు మాత్రం నీటిలో విసిరిన ఆయుధంలా మునిగి నరకసముద్రంలో పడిపోతారు।”

Word by Word

प्लवन्तेfloat / stay afloat

धर्म-लघवःthose made light by dharma (the righteous/light ones)

लोकेin the world

अम्भसिin water

यथाas / just as

प्लवाःboats / rafts

मज्जन्तिsink

पाप-गुरवःthose made heavy by sin (sin-laden ones)

शस्त्र-स्कन्नम्a weapon that has fallen/been cast (in)

इवlike / as if

उदकेin water

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

boats/rafts (plavāḥ)

weapon (śastra)

water (ambhas/udaka)

world (loka)

saṃsāra (implied: ocean of worldly existence)

naraka (implied: hellish realm/sea)

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?

Dharma functions like buoyancy: ethical living keeps a person ‘light’ and able to cross saṃsāra, while sin becomes a heavy load that causes one to sink into suffering (symbolized as a hellish sea).

What is happening in the narrative?

In the opening of the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on righteous conduct. Here he uses a vivid simile—boats floating and weapons sinking—to impress the moral consequence of dharma versus pāpa.