Shloka 4

Pānīya-dāna and Anna-dāna: The Primacy of Life-Sustaining Gifts (पानीयदान-प्रशंसा / अन्नदान-प्रशंसा)

Devanagari script

भीष्म उवाच इममर्थ पुरा पृष्टो नारदो देवदर्शन: । यदुक्तवानसौ वाक्यं तन्मे निगदत: शृणु

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | imam arthaṃ purā pṛṣṭo nārado devadarśanaḥ | yad uktavān asau vākyaṃ tan me nigadataḥ śṛṇu ||

Translation

بھیشم نے کہا—اے یدھشٹھِر! اسی معاملے میں میں نے پہلے ایک بار دیودَرشی نارَد سے سوال کیا تھا۔ اُس وقت اُس نے جو کلمات کہے تھے، وہی میں اب تمہیں سناتا ہوں—سنو۔

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'bhīṣma uvāca', 'definition': 'Bhishma said'}, {'term': 'imam arthaṃ', 'definition': 'this matter

• this point of inquiry'}, {'term': 'purā', 'definition': 'formerly

• once upon a time'}, {'term': 'pṛṣṭaḥ', 'definition': 'asked

• questioned (having been asked/one who asked, per context)'}, {'term': 'nāradaḥ', 'definition': 'Narada (divine sage, messenger, teacher)'}, {'term': 'devadarśanaḥ', 'definition': 'one who sees the gods

• a seer with divine vision'}, {'term': 'yad uktavān', 'definition': 'what (he) said

• what was spoken'}, {'term': 'asau', 'definition': 'that (person), he'}, {'term': 'vākyaṃ', 'definition': 'speech

• utterance'}, {'term': 'tat', 'definition': 'that

• the same (teaching)'}, {'term': 'me', 'definition': 'to me

• by me (contextual)'}, {'term': 'nigadataḥ', 'definition': 'as I relate/tell

• while I recount'}, {'term': 'śṛṇu', 'definition': 'listen'}]

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Narada

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes the ethical authority of received wisdom: Bhishma grounds his instruction in a prior inquiry to the sage Narada and invites attentive listening, presenting dharma as something carefully questioned, verified, and faithfully transmitted.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma begins a new segment of counsel by stating that he once asked Narada about the same topic and will now repeat Narada’s reply, signaling a shift to a reported teaching from a revered seer.