Shloka 29

अनुशासनपर्व अध्याय ९३ — तपस्, सदोपवास, विघसाशन, अतिथिप्रियता

Austerity, regulated fasting, residual-eating, and hospitality

Devanagari script

अथर्वशिरसो ध्येता ब्रह्मचारी यतव्रत: । सत्यवादी धर्मशील: स्वकर्मनिरतश्न॒ सः,जो अथर्ववेदके ज्ञाता, ब्रह्मचारी, नियमपूर्वक व्रतका पालन करनेवाले, सत्यवादी, धर्मशील और अपने कर्तव्य-कर्ममें तत्पर हैं, वे पुरुष पंक्तिपावन हैं

Transliteration

atharvaśiraso dhyetā brahmacārī yatavrataḥ | satyavādī dharmaśīlaḥ svakarmanirataś ca saḥ |

Translation

భీష్ముడు పలికెను—అథర్వశిరస్సును ధ్యానించువాడు, బ్రహ్మచారి, నియమబద్ధ వ్రతాచరణ కలవాడు, సత్యవాది, ధర్మనిష్ఠుడు, తన స్వకర్మంలో నిత్యం నిమగ్నుడైనవాడు—అటువంటి వాడు పంక్తిపావనుడు.

Word by Word

अथर्वशिरसःof Atharvaśiras (text/name)

ध्येताa meditator; one who contemplates

ब्रह्मचारीa celibate student; brahmacārin

यतव्रतःof restrained vows; self-controlled in vows

सत्यवादीtruth-speaking

धर्मशीलःvirtuous; of righteous conduct

स्वकर्मनिरतःengaged in one’s own duties

सःhe

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Atharvaśiras

Atharvaveda

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?

The verse teaches that spiritual study and contemplation (Atharvaśiras), combined with disciplined vows, truthfulness, righteous character, and steady commitment to one’s own duties (svakarma), makes a person morally elevating—so virtuous that he is said to purify and uplift his lineage/community.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhishma continues instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he identifies the qualities of an exemplary Vedic practitioner—one devoted to Atharvanic contemplation, brahmacarya, truth, and svadharma—and describes such a person as ‘panktīpāvana,’ a sanctifier of the family line.