Shloka 9

परिव्राजक-आचारः (Conduct of the Wandering Renunciant) — Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 269

Devanagari script

समा हार्जवसम्पन्ना: संतुष्टा ज्ञाननिश्चया: । प्रत्यक्षधर्मा: शुचय: श्रद्दधाना: परावरे,वे सब प्राणियोंपर समान दृष्टि रखते थे। सरल, संतुष्ट, ज्ञाननिष्ठ, प्रत्यक्ष फल देनेवाले धर्मके अनुष्ठाता और शुद्धचित्त होते थे तथा शब्दब्रह्म एवं परब्रह्म-दोनोंमें ही श्रद्धा रखते थे

Transliteration

samā ārjavasaṃpannāḥ santuṣṭā jñānaniścayāḥ | pratyakṣadharmāḥ śucayaḥ śraddadhānāḥ parāvare ||

Translation

కపిలుడు పలికెను—వారు సమస్త ప్రాణులను సమదృష్టితో చూచేవారు. ఆర్జవం, సంతృప్తి, జ్ఞానంపై దృఢ నిశ్చయంతో యుక్తులై, ప్రత్యక్ష ఫలమిచ్చే ధర్మాన్ని ఆచరించేవారు. మనస్సు, ఆచరణలో శుద్ధులై, పర-అపర రెండింటిలోనూ శ్రద్ధ కలిగివుండేవారు: శబ్దబ్రహ్మములోను పరబ్రహ్మములోను.

Word by Word

समाःequal, impartial

आर्जवसम्पन्नाःendowed with straightforwardness

संतुष्टाःcontented

ज्ञाननिश्चयाःfirm in knowledge; having certainty of knowledge

प्रत्यक्षधर्माःwhose dharma is directly evident / yielding visible results

शुचयःpure, clean (in conduct/mind)

श्रद्दधानाःfaithful; having श्रद्धा

परावरेin the higher and the lower (i.e., in both: para and apara)

Speaker

कपिल उवाच

Characters & Entities

Kapila

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse praises a model of spiritual-ethical life: impartiality toward all beings, simplicity and honesty, contentment, and a knowledge-based steadiness. It also harmonizes two orientations—reverence for scriptural discipline (śabda-brahman) and devotion to the highest, ineffable reality (para-brahman)—suggesting that purity and direct, lived dharma should culminate in higher realization.

What is happening in the narrative?

Kapila is describing the qualities of exemplary practitioners (ascetics/seekers) within the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation: they are equal-minded, pure, and steadfast in knowledge, and their practice yields visible ethical fruits while remaining grounded in both Vedic authority and the pursuit of the supreme Brahman.