Shloka 88

धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)

Devanagari script

ते सहाया भविष्यन्ति सुरकार्ये मम द्विज । ततो रक्ष:पतिं घोरं पुलस्त्यकुलपांसनम्‌

Transliteration

te sahāyā bhaviṣyanti surakārye mama dvija | tato rakṣaḥpatiṃ ghoraṃ pulastyakulapāṃsanam ||

Translation

హే ద్విజా! దేవకార్యంలో వారు నాకు సహాయకులవుతారు. ఆపై పులస్త్యకులానికి కళంకమైన ఆ ఘోర రాక్షసాధిపతిని నేను ఎదుర్కొంటాను.

Word by Word

तेthey

सहायाःhelpers, allies

भविष्यन्तिwill be

सुरकार्येin the work of the gods

ममof me, my

द्विजO twice-born (brahmin)

ततःthen, thereafter

रक्षःपतिम्the lord of the Rakṣasas

घोरम्terrible

पुलस्त्यकुलपांसनम्the disgrace (stain) of Pulastya's lineage

Speaker

(भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

dvija (a brāhmaṇa addressee)

suras (devas/gods)

rakṣaḥpati (lord of the Rākṣasas)

Pulastya (sage; progenitor associated with Rākṣasa lineages)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Aid given to righteous, cosmic purposes (surakārya) is presented as worthy and dharmic, while a powerful wrongdoer is morally judged not by strength but by conduct—hence being called a “disgrace” to an ancestral line.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma addresses a brāhmaṇa and states that certain beings will become his allies in carrying out a divine task; then he declares his intention to face a fearsome lord of the Rākṣasas, denouncing him as a blot on Pulastya’s lineage.