Shloka 11

अध्याय २०८ — इन्द्रियनिग्रहः, सत्याहिंसात्मकवाक्, कर्मफलविवेकः

Restraint of the Senses, Non-harming Truthful Speech, and Discernment of Karmic Consequence

Devanagari script

शशबिन्दोश्व भार्याणां सहस्राणि दशाच्युत । एकैकस्यां सहस्नं तु तनयानामभूत्‌ तदा

Transliteration

śaśabindoś ca bhāryāṇāṃ sahasrāṇi daśācyuta | ekaikasyāṃ sahasraṃ tu tanayānām abhūt tadā ||

Translation

భీష్ముడు పలికెను—ధర్మమునకు అచ్యుతుడవైన యుధిష్ఠిరా! శశబిందు రాజుకు పది వేల భార్యలు ఉండేవారు. వారిలో ప్రతి ఒక్కరిలోనూ ఆ సమయంలో ఒక్కొక్కరికి వెయ్యి మంది కుమారులు జన్మించారు.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'śaśabindoḥ', 'definition': 'of Śaśabindu (a king

• genitive singular)'}, {'term': 'bhāryāṇām', 'definition': 'of wives'}, {'term': 'sahasrāṇi', 'definition': 'thousands'}, {'term': 'daśa', 'definition': 'ten'}, {'term': 'acyuta', 'definition': 'O unfallen/steadfast one

• here an epithet used in address (to Yudhiṣṭhira in this context)'}, {'term': 'ekaikasyām', 'definition': 'in each one (feminine locative singular, distributive)'}, {'term': 'sahasram', 'definition': 'a thousand'}, {'term': 'tu', 'definition': 'indeed

• but (emphatic particle)'}, {'term': 'tanayānām', 'definition': 'of sons/offspring'}, {'term': 'abhūt', 'definition': 'there was/there came to be'}, {'term': 'tadā', 'definition': 'then

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Śaśabindu

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses an extraordinary genealogical example to underscore the vastness of royal progeny and the power attributed to great kings; in the wider Śānti-parvan context, such accounts support reflection on righteous rule, social order, and the responsibilities that accompany power and lineage.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma, instructing Yudhiṣṭhira, recounts a tradition about King Śaśabindu: he had ten thousand wives, and each bore a thousand sons, emphasizing the king’s immense progeny as part of a larger discourse on rulers and their lineages.