Shloka 102

Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment

Parāśara’s Instruction

Devanagari script

यज्ञवाहाय दान्ताय तप्यायातपनाय च | नमस्तटाय तट्याय तटानां पतये नमः

Transliteration

yajñavāhāya dāntāya tapyāyātapanāya ca | namas taṭāya taṭyāya taṭānāṃ pataye namaḥ ||

Translation

ขอนอบน้อมแด่พระผู้ทรงแบกยัญญะ; แด่พระผู้เป็นดานตะ—ผู้สำรวม; แด่พระผู้เป็นตัปยะ—ตบะอันร้อนแรงเอง; และแด่พระผู้อาทปนะ—ผู้ทนความร้อนแห่งตบะ ขอนอบน้อมแด่ตลิ่ง; แด่สิ่งอันเนื่องด้วยตลิ่ง; และขอนอบน้อมแด่เจ้าแห่งตลิ่งทั้งปวง

Word by Word

यज्ञवाहायto the bearer/carrier of the sacrifice

दान्तायto the self-controlled (one)

तप्यायto the ascetic / one devoted to tapas

आतपनायto the heat/sunshine (as a divine epithet)

चand

नमःsalutation

तटायto the bank/shore

तट्यायto the one pertaining to the bank/shore

तटानाम्of banks/shores

पतयेto the lord/master

नमःsalutation

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

yajña (sacrifice)

tapas (austerity)

taṭa (river-bank/shore)

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?

Ethical steadiness is rooted in reverence for yajña (ordered duty and sacred offering) and tapas (disciplined self-restraint). By praising the bearer of sacrifice and the ascetic power of endurance, the verse elevates self-control and sustained practice as foundations of dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction, Bhīṣma is reciting a devotional formula of salutations (stuti/namaskāra), invoking a revered power through multiple epithets—linked to sacrifice, austerity, and the protective boundary of river-banks—before continuing his broader teaching on dharma and right conduct.