Shanti Parva Adhyaya 214 Shloka 15 - Mahabharata | Telugu | Vedapath

Vyasa

Shloka 15

Adhyāya 214: Tapas Redefined—Perpetual Discipline, Hospitality, and the Ethics of Eating (तपः-निरूपणम्, विघसाशी-अतिथिप्रिय-धर्मः)

Devanagari script

कुणपामे ध्यसंयुक्तं यद्वदच्छिद्रबन्धनम्‌ । तद्वद्‌ देहगतं विद्यादात्मानं देहबन्धनम्‌

Transliteration

kuṇapāmeḍhyasaṃyuktaṃ yadvad acchidra-bandhanam | tadvad deha-gataṃ vidyād ātmānaṃ deha-bandhanam ||

Translation

భీష్ముడు చెప్పెను—అపవిత్రమైన ఈ దేహం శవంలాగా అచ్ఛిన్న బంధాలతో బిగిగా కట్టబడి ఉన్నట్లే, దేహంలో నివసించే ఆత్మ కూడా అజ్ఞానవశాత్ దేహబంధనంలో దృఢంగా బంధింపబడి ఉందని తెలుసుకోవాలి।

Word by Word

कुणपामेin a corpse-like (impure) body

ध्यसंयुक्तम्joined/fastened (firmly)

यत्which

वत्like/as

अच्छिद्रबन्धनम्a tight/unyielding binding (lit. unbroken binding)

तत्that

वत्like/as

देहगतंsituated in the body

विद्यात्one should know

आत्मानम्the self

देहबन्धनम्bound by the body / the body as a bondage

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Atman (Self)

Deha (body)

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 disidentification from the body: the body is impure and perishable, while the Self is distinct; yet due to ignorance the Self appears tightly bound by embodiment. Recognizing this bondage is a step toward detachment and liberation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and liberation-oriented wisdom. Here he uses a stark metaphor of the body as a tightly bound, impure mass to explain how the indwelling Self becomes constrained by bodily identification.