Shloka 28

Śakuni–Duryodhana-saṃvāda: Dyūta-yojanā (Śakuni and Duryodhana on Planning the Dice-Game)

Devanagari script

भूलिड्शशकुनिर्नाम पाश्वे हिमवतः परे । भीष्म तस्या: सदा वाच: श्रूयन्ते<र्थविगर्हिता:,भीष्म! हिमालयके दूसरे भागमें भूलिंग नामसे प्रसिद्ध एक चिड़िया रहती है। उसके मुखसे सदा ऐसी बात सुनायी पड़ती है, जो उसके कार्यके विपरीत भावकी सूचक होनेके कारण अत्यन्त निन्दनीय जान पड़ती है

Transliteration

bhūliṅgaśakuniḥ nāma pārśve himavataḥ pare | bhīṣma tasyāḥ sadā vācaḥ śrūyante ’rthavigarhitāḥ ||

Translation

శిశుపాలుడు అన్నాడు—భీష్మా! హిమవంతుని అవతల వైపున ‘భూలింగ’ అనే పక్షి ఉంది. దాని నోట ఎప్పుడూ అర్థం నిందనీయం అయిన మాటలే వినిపిస్తుంటాయి.

Word by Word

भूलिङ्गःBhūliṅga (a bird)

शकुनिःbird

नामby name / called

पार्श्वेat the side / near

हिमवतःof Himavat (the Himalaya)

परेon the farther side

भीष्मO Bhīṣma

तस्याःof her

सदाalways

वाचःwords / utterances

श्रूयन्तेare heard

अर्थ-विगर्हिताःcondemned as to their meaning / reprehensible in sense

Speaker

शिशुपाल उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śiśupāla

Bhīṣma

Bhūliṅga (bird)

Himavat/Himālaya

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 warns against speech whose meaning is ethically censurable—words that contradict right conduct. It implies that constant, ill-meaning speech is a mark of blame and should not be emulated in a dharmic assembly.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the royal assembly context, Śiśupāla addresses Bhīṣma and introduces a proverbial example: a bird beyond the Himālaya whose speech is always reprehensible in meaning. He uses this image as a rhetorical device within his critique in the Sabha.