Shloka 14

Vimokṣa-niścaya: Pañcaśikha’s Analysis of Aggregates, Guṇas, and Tyāga (मोक्षनिर्णयः)

Devanagari script

तद्धत्‌ संसारकान्तारमातिष्ठ न्‌ श्रमतत्पर: । यात्रार्थमद्यादाहारं व्याधितो भेषजं यथा

Transliteration

tadvat saṃsārakāntāram ātiṣṭhan śramatatparaḥ | yātrārtham adyād āhāraṃ vyādhito bheṣajaṃ yathā ||

Translation

ฉันนั้นแล เมื่อดำรงอยู่ในป่าแห่งสังสาระและมุ่งมั่นในความเพียร พึงรับประทานอาหารเพียงเพื่อค้ำจุนการเดินทางแห่งชีวิต—ดุจผู้เจ็บป่วยรับประทานยา

Word by Word

• तद्वत्: likewise, in the same way
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तद्वत्

• संसारकान्तारम्: the wilderness-forest of worldly existence
• संसारकान्तारम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: संसारकान्तार
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• आतिष्ठ: remain in / abide in / take to
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्था (आ-स्था)
• Form: Imperative, Second, Singular, Parasmaipada

• श्रमतत्परः: intent on exertion; devoted to effort
• श्रमतत्परः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: श्रमतत्पर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• यात्रार्थम्: for the sake of sustenance/maintenance (of life-journey)
• यात्रार्थम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: यात्रार्थ
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अद्याद्: should eat
• Type: Verb
• Root: अद्
• Form: Optative, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• आहारम्: food, intake
• आहारम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: आहार
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• व्याधितः: one who is ill; a sick person
• व्याधितः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: व्याधित
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• भेषजम्: medicine, remedy
• भेषजम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: भेषज
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• यथा: just as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Food should be taken with restraint and purity, primarily to sustain life and support one’s duties, not to indulge the palate—like medicine taken by a patient for survival rather than enjoyment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma continues his instruction in the Śānti Parva, using the metaphor of saṃsāra as a dangerous forest to advise disciplined living: the householder should work diligently and eat only what is necessary for maintaining life.