Shloka 3

Adhyāya 152 — Bhīṣma’s Authorization for Yudhiṣṭhira’s Return to the Capital (नगरप्रवेशानुज्ञा)

Devanagari script

दक्षे शमदमोपेते निर्ममे धर्मचारिणि । पृच्छामि त्वां वरारोहे पृष्टा वद ममेप्सितम्‌

Transliteration

dakṣe śamadamopete nirmame dharmacāriṇi | pṛcchāmi tvāṃ varārohe pṛṣṭā vada mamepsitam ||

Translation

Hỡi người tài giỏi, đầy đủ an tĩnh và tự chế, không kiêu mạn, chuyên tâm theo hạnh chính—hỡi phu nhân dáng đẹp, ta hỏi nàng. Đã được hỏi rồi, hãy nói điều ta muốn biết.

Word by Word

• दक्षे: in/with the capable one
• दक्षे: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दक्ष
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• शमदमोपेते: endowed with tranquility and self-control
• शमदमोपेते: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शम-दम-उपेत
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• निर्ममे: created / fashioned
• Type: Verb
• Root: निर्मा
• Form: Perfect, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• धर्मचारिणि: in the righteous-practicing one
• धर्मचारिणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: धर्मचारिन्
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• पृच्छामि: I ask
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्रच्छ्
• Form: Present, First, Singular, Parasmaipada

• त्वाम्: you
• त्वाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: —, Accusative, Singular

• वरारोहे: O fair-hipped one
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर-आरोह
• Form: Feminine, Vocative, Singular

• पृष्टा: having been asked
• Type: Verb
• Root: पृच्छ्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular, Past passive participle (क्त)

• वद: tell / speak
• Type: Verb
• Root: वद्
• Form: Imperative, Second, Singular, Parasmaipada

• मम: of me / my
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: —, Genitive, Singular

• ईप्सितम्: desired (thing)
• ईप्सितम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ईप्सित
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular, Past passive participle (क्त)

Speaker

श्रीमहेश्वर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śrī Maheśvara (Śiva)
• the addressed woman (varārohā; unnamed in this verse)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the ethical qualifications for reliable counsel: inner calm (śama), sensory restraint (dama), freedom from possessiveness/ego (nirmama), and steady practice of dharma. Such virtues make a person fit to be questioned and to answer truthfully and beneficially.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śrī Maheśvara addresses a virtuous woman with honorific epithets, acknowledging her self-mastery and righteousness, and then formally asks her to state what he wishes to know—setting the tone for an instructive exchange.