Shloka 26

जनक–पराशर संवादः — वर्ण-गोत्र-धर्मविचारः

Janaka–Parāśara: Varṇa, Gotra, and Dharma Inquiry

Devanagari script

परिदाहस्तथा शोक: संतापो<पूर्तिरक्षमा

Transliteration

paridāhas tathā śokaḥ santāpo 'pūrtir akṣamā

Translation

اسی طرح دل سوزی، غم، کرب، نامکملی (خواہش کا پورا نہ ہونا) اور بے بسی کی ناتوانی بھی پیدا ہوتی ہے۔

Word by Word

परिदाहःburning pain, inflammation

तथाand also, likewise

शोकःgrief, sorrow

संतापःdistress, torment

अपूर्तिःnon-fulfilment, lack, incompleteness

अक्षमाincapable, unable (to endure/act)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma enumerates the characteristic forms of human suffering—burning anguish, grief, torment, unfulfilled longing, and helpless incapacity—highlighting how attachment and unmet desire manifest as inner pain, a key concern in ethical self-mastery taught in Śānti Parva.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and the governance of the self and society; here he lists the afflictive states that trouble a person’s mind, as part of a broader analysis of suffering and the means to peace.