Shloka 4

Anuśāsana-parva Adhyāya 112: Dharma as the sole companion; karmic witnesses; rebirth sequences

Bṛhaspati–Yudhiṣṭhira Saṃvāda

Devanagari script

तीर्थशौचमनर्थित्वमार्जवं सत्यमार्दवम्‌ अहिंसा सर्वभूतानामानृशंस्यं दम: शम:

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | tīrtha-śaucam anarthitvam ārjavaṁ satyam ārdavam | ahiṁsā sarva-bhūtānām ānṛśaṁsyaṁ damaḥ śamaḥ || kāmanā-yācanayor abhāvaḥ saralatā satyaṁ mṛdutā ahiṁsā samasta-prāṇiṣu krūratābhāvaḥ (dayā) indriya-saṁyamaḥ mano-nigrahaś ca—etāni eva asya mānasa-tīrthasya sevanena prāptāyāḥ pavitratāyāḥ lakṣaṇāni ||

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: “Sự thanh tịnh nơi tīrtha này thật sự đạt được nhờ các đức hạnh nội tâm: không ham muốn và không cầu xin, ngay thẳng, chân thật, nhu hòa, bất hại đối với mọi loài, lòng từ bi (không tàn nhẫn), chế ngự các căn và làm chủ tâm ý. Đó là những dấu hiệu của sự thanh tịnh do nương nơi ‘tīrtha của tâm’ mà có.”

Word by Word

• {'tīrtha': 'a sacred ford/place of pilgrimage

• by extension, a means of purification', 'śauca (śaucam)': 'purity, cleanliness (outer and inner)', 'anarthitva': 'non-asking

• not being importunate', 'ārjava': 'straightforwardness, integrity, lack of crookedness', 'satya': 'truth, truthfulness', 'ārdava': 'gentleness, softness of disposition', 'ahiṁsā': 'non-violence

• non-injury in thought, word, and deed', 'sarva-bhūta': 'all beings/creatures', 'ānṛśaṁsya': 'non-cruelty, kindness, compassion', 'dama': 'restraint of the senses

• self-control', 'śama': 'tranquility

• inner calm', 'kāmanā': 'desire, craving', 'yācanā': 'requesting, begging', 'abhāva': 'absence, non-existence', 'saralatā': 'simplicity, guilelessness', 'mṛdutā': 'mildness, tenderness', 'krūratā-abhāva': 'absence of cruelty', 'dayā': 'compassion, mercy', 'indriya-saṁyama': 'discipline/restraint of the senses', 'mano-nigraha': 'control of the mind', 'mānasa-tīrtha': 'the ‘mental’ or inner pilgrimage

• inner sanctity as a sacred ford', 'sevana': 'resorting to, practicing, cultivating', 'lakṣaṇa': 'mark, characteristic, sign'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True purification is primarily inner: integrity, truth, gentleness, non-violence, compassion, and disciplined senses and mind constitute the real ‘tīrtha’ (pilgrimage) and its fruit.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs on dharma; here he reframes pilgrimage and ritual purity by emphasizing moral and psychological virtues as the defining signs of genuine sanctity.