Shloka 17

कपोत-लुब्धकसंवादः — Hunter’s Remorse and Renunciatory Resolve

Devanagari script

न धर्मवचन वाचा नैव बुद्धयेति नः श्रुतम्‌ । इति बार्हस्पतं ज्ञानं प्रोवाच मघवा स्वयम्‌

Transliteration

na dharmavacana-vācā naiva buddhayeti naḥ śrutam | iti bārhaspataṃ jñānaṃ provāca maghavā svayam ||

Translation

بھیشم نے کہا—ہم نے سنا ہے کہ دھرم کا فیصلہ نہ محض فصیح کلامی سے ہوتا ہے اور نہ صرف عقل و تَرک سے۔ برہسپتی کی یہی تعلیم ہے کہ شاستر کے قول اور معقول تحقیق—دونوں کے اجتماع سے—دھرم متعین ہوتا ہے؛ یہ بات مَغھوا (اِندر) نے خود بیان کی۔

Word by Word

• {'na': 'not', 'dharma': 'righteousness

• right order', 'vacana': 'statement

• authoritative utterance (often scriptural or traditional)', 'vācā': 'by speech

• eloquence', 'naiva': 'not even

• nor indeed', 'buddhayā (buddhi)': 'by intellect

• rational faculty', 'iti': 'thus

• in this manner', 'naḥ': 'by us

• for us', 'śrutam': 'heard

• received tradition', 'bārhaspatam': 'belonging to Bṛhaspati

• Bṛhaspati’s', 'jñānam': 'knowledge

• teaching', 'provāca': 'said

• proclaimed', 'maghavā': 'Maghavān, an epithet of Indra', 'svayam': 'himself

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Brihaspati
• Indra (Maghavān)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma cannot be fixed by rhetoric alone or by abstract reasoning alone; it is best discerned by integrating authoritative teaching (śāstra/tradition) with rational examination (buddhi/yukti).

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhishma cites a doctrinal position attributed to Bṛhaspati and affirmed by Indra, emphasizing a balanced method for judging dharma.