Shloka 6

Kīṭopākhyāna: Prajā-pālana as Kṣatra-vrata and the Attainment of Brāhmaṇya

Devanagari script

भीष्म उवाच एवमेतन्महाबाहो यथा वदसि भारत | विवर्जिते तु बहवो गुणा: कौरवनन्दन । ये भवन्ति मनुष्याणां तान्‌ मे निगदतः शृणु

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca evam etan mahābāho yathā vadasi bhārata | vivarjite tu bahavo guṇāḥ kauravanandana | ye bhavanti manuṣyāṇāṃ tān me nigadataḥ śṛṇu ||

Translation

بھیشم نے کہا— اے مہاباہو بھارت! جیسا تو کہتا ہے، بات ویسی ہی ہے۔ اے کوروؤں کے دل بند! جب گوشت سے پرہیز کیا جائے تو انسانوں کے لیے بہت سے اوصاف اور فائدے حاصل ہوتے ہیں؛ میں بیان کرتا ہوں— سنو۔

Word by Word

• {'bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', 'evam etat': 'thus indeed

• it is so', 'mahābāho': 'O mighty-armed one (honorific address)', 'yathā': 'as

• in the manner that', 'vadasi': 'you say

• you speak', 'bhārata': 'O Bharata (descendant of Bharata

• address to a Kuru prince)', 'vivarjite': 'when avoided/abstained from

• upon giving up', 'tu': 'but

• however', 'bahavaḥ': 'many', 'guṇāḥ': 'virtues

• merits/benefits', 'kauravanandana': 'O joy of the Kurus (honorific address)', 'ye': 'which

• those that', 'bhavanti': 'arise

• occur', 'manuṣyāṇām': 'of human beings', 'tān': 'those (benefits/virtues)', 'me': 'from me

• my', 'nigadataḥ': 'as I declare/state

• while I am telling', 'śṛṇu': 'listen

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Bharata (address)
• Kauravanandana (address)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma affirms the listener’s point and introduces a dharmic claim: abstaining from meat leads to many virtues and benefits, which he is about to enumerate.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anushasana Parva’s instruction on conduct, Bhishma addresses a Kuru prince and transitions into a structured explanation of the merits that follow from giving up meat.