Shloka 22

Janamejaya’s Appeal for Pacification and Śaunaka’s Counsel on Humility (जनमेजय-शौनक संवादः)

Devanagari script

कुरुष्वानुग्रहं सौम्य सत्यमेतद्‌ ब्रवीमि ते । निश्चिता खलु मे बुद्धिरतिथिप्रतिपूजने

Transliteration

kuruṣvānugrahaṃ saumya satyam etad bravīmi te | niścitā khalu me buddhir atithipratipūjane ||

Translation

اے نرم خو! مجھ پر عنایت کر؛ میں تم سے سچ کہتا ہوں۔ مہمان کی واجب تعظیم و تکریم کرنے کا میرا عزم پختہ ہو چکا ہے۔ اس لیے آج میں نے اعلیٰ ترین ضیافتِ مہمان کا فیصلہ کیا ہے—تم مجھے ہی قبول کرو اور مجھ پر مہربانی کرو۔ یہی سچا کلام میں تم سے کہتا ہوں۔

Word by Word

• {'kuruṣva': 'do

• perform (imperative, 2nd person singular)', 'anugraham': 'favor, grace, compassionate acceptance', 'saumya': 'gentle one

• courteous address to a respected person', 'satyam': 'truth

• what is true', 'etat': 'this (statement/matter)', 'bravīmi': 'I say

• I declare', 'te': 'to you', 'niścitā': 'determined

• firmly resolved', 'khalu': 'indeed

• certainly (emphatic particle)', 'me': 'my

• of me', 'buddhiḥ': 'intention, resolve, settled understanding', 'atithi': 'guest

• one who arrives without a fixed appointment', 'pratipūjane': 'in honoring/revering

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• atithi (guest)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse upholds atithi-dharma: honoring a guest is a serious ethical obligation, to be undertaken with firm resolve and truthfulness. Hospitality is presented not as mere courtesy but as a dharmic act requiring sincerity and commitment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma addresses someone respectfully as “saumya,” asking for compassionate acceptance. He states that he has firmly decided to perform proper guest-honoring, and urges the listener to accept him—framing his request within the moral duty of receiving and honoring an atithi.