Shloka 73

तीर्थवंशोपदेशः

Tīrtha-vaṃśa Upadeśa: Instruction on the Fruits of Sacred Waters

Devanagari script

चातुराश्रम्यबाह्ाश्र श्रुतिबाह्माश्व ये नरा: । विकर्मभिक्ष जीवन्ति ते वै निरयगामिन:

Transliteration

cāturāśramyabāhyāś ca śrutibāhyāś ca ye narāḥ | vikarmabhikṣā jīvanti te vai nirayagāminaḥ ||

Translation

بھیشم نے کہا—جو لوگ چاروں آشرموں کی پابندی اور وید کی اتھارٹی سے باہر ہیں، اور شاستروں کے خلاف اعمال یا بھیک کے سہارے روزی کماتے ہیں، وہ یقیناً دوزخ کے گامی ہیں۔

Word by Word

• चातुराश्रम्यबाह्याः: outside the four-āśrama system
• चातुराश्रम्यबाह्याः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चातुराश्रम्य-बाह्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• श्रुतिबाह्याः: outside the Vedic (śruti) authority
• श्रुतिबाह्याः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: श्रुति-बाह्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• ये: who
• ये: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• नराः: men, persons
• नराः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• विकर्मभिक्षया: by livelihood from forbidden acts (sinful begging/means)
• विकर्मभिक्षया: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: विकर्म-भिक्षा
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• जीवन्ति: live, subsist
• Type: Verb
• Root: जीव्
• Form: Present, Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

• ते: they
• ते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• वै: indeed, surely
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै

• निरयगामिनः: hell-bound, going to hell
• निरयगामिनः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निरय-गामिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

One should live within the ethical framework of āśrama-dharma and the authority of śruti/śāstra; sustaining oneself through prohibited acts (vikarma) is condemned and said to lead to severe karmic consequences (niraya).

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma (Anuśāsana Parva), he warns about people who reject the Vedic-āśrama order and make their living through śāstra-forbidden means, stating that such conduct results in a fall into hell.