Shloka 32

गोमूल्यनिर्णयः — The Determination of Value through the Cow

Nahuṣa–Cyavana Episode

Devanagari script

चतुष्पथश्मशानानि शैलांश्वान्यान्‌ वनस्पतीन्‌ | कार्ष्णायसमलंकारं परिगृहय॒ च नित्यश:,ऐसे लोग सदा लोहेके आभूषण पहनकर चौराहोंमें, मरघटमें, पहाड़ोंपर और वृक्षोंके नीचे निवास करते हैं

Transliteration

catuṣpathaśmaśānāni śailāṃś cānyān vanaspatīn | kārṣṇāyasam alaṅkāraṃ parigṛhya ca nityaśaḥ ||

Translation

ชนเหล่านั้นย่อมสวมเครื่องประดับเหล็กดำอยู่เนืองนิตย์ และตั้งถิ่นฐานตามสี่แยก ป่าช้า ยอดเขา และใต้ร่มไม้

Word by Word

चतुष्पथश्मशानानिcrossroads and cremation-grounds

शैलान्mountains

चand

अन्यान्other

वनस्पतीन्trees

कार्ष्णायसम्made of iron

अलंकारम्ornament, adornment

परिगृह्यhaving taken up / wearing

चand

नित्यशःalways, constantly

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

crossroads (catuṣpatha)

cremation-ground (śmaśāna)

mountains (śaila)

trees (vanaspati)

black-iron ornaments (kārṣṇāyasa-alaṅkāra)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse characterizes certain people by their attraction to inauspicious, boundary-spaces (crossroads, cremation-grounds, lonely heights, under trees) and by their continual wearing of black-iron ornaments. In dharma-discourse this functions as a moral marker: such habits signal deviation from settled, purity-oriented social and ethical norms.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is describing a type of person and their recognizable lifestyle. Rather than narrating an event, he gives diagnostic traits—where they live and what they wear—to indicate their disposition and the ethical category to which they belong.