Shloka 105

Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment

Parāśara’s Instruction

Devanagari script

बालानुचरगोप्ताय बालक्रीडनकाय च । नमो वृद्धाय लुब्धाय क्षुब्धाय क्षोभणाय च

Transliteration

bālānucaragoptāya bālakrīḍanakāya ca | namo vṛddhāya lubdhāya kṣubdhāya kṣobhaṇāya ca ||

Translation

Wika ni Bhishma: Pagpupugay sa Iyo na tagapagtanggol ng mga bata at ng kanilang mga kasama, at sa Iyo na nalulugod na makipaglaro sa kanila. Pagpupugay sa Iyo na pinakamatanda sa lahat, na nananabik sa debosyon at pag-ibig. Sa kasalanan ng masasama, Ikaw ay nagigising sa makatarungang pagngangalit; at Ikaw ang nagpapayanig sa mga gumagawa ng mali—upang sila’y maalis sa landas ng kawalang-dharma.

Word by Word

• {'bāla': 'child

• young one', 'anucara': 'follower

• companion', 'goptṛ/goptā': 'protector

• guardian', 'bālakrīḍana': 'playing with children

• childlike sport', 'namo': 'salutation

• homage', 'vṛddha': 'elder

• venerable', 'lubdha': 'eager

• ‘greedy’ (here: longing for devotion/love)', 'kṣubdha': 'agitated

• moved (often by moral outrage)', 'kṣobhaṇa': 'one who causes agitation

• one who unsettles (here: of wrongdoers)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Śrī Kṛṣṇa
• bāla (children)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames the divine ideal as both tender and corrective: the Lord lovingly protects and plays with the innocent, yet becomes morally stirred by evil and actively unsettles wrongdoers. It presents dharma as compassionate guardianship combined with firm opposition to adharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma offers a hymn of praise to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, describing his qualities through epithets—guardian of children, playful companion, the most venerable, desirous of devotees’ love, and the one who is provoked by sinners and who provokes the wicked into turmoil.