Shloka 8

Devanagari script

पन्थान: सर्वनेतारो यज्ञवाहा: सनातना: । पितृपैतामहीं गुर्वीमुद्गहन्ति धुरं सदा

Transliteration

panthānaḥ sarva-netāro yajña-vāhāḥ sanātanāḥ | pitṛ-paitāmahīṁ gurvīm udgahnanti dhuraṁ sadā ||

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: “Các Bà-la-môn là những bậc chỉ đường cho tất cả—là người lãnh đạo và là kẻ gìn giữ truyền thống tế lễ (yajña) muôn đời. Họ luôn gánh vác ách nặng của khuôn phép dharma do cha ông truyền lại.”

Word by Word

• पन्थानः: paths / ways
• पन्थानः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पथिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सर्वनेतारः: leaders of all (guides of everyone)
• सर्वनेतारः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्वनेतृ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• यज्ञवाहाः: bearers/performers of sacrifice
• यज्ञवाहाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: यज्ञवाह
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सनातनाः: eternal, ancient
• सनातनाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सनातन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• पितृपैतामहीं: ancestral (of fathers and grandfathers)
• पितृपैतामहीं: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पितृपैतामह
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• गुर्वीम्: heavy, weighty
• गुर्वीम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गुरु
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• उद्गहन्ति: they bear / carry (up)
• Type: Verb
• Root: उद् + गह्
• Form: Present, Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

• धुरम्: burden, yoke-load
• धुरम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: धुर्
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• सदा: always
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सदा

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Brahmins (brāhmaṇāḥ)
• Yajña (sacrifice)
• Ancestral forefathers (pitṛ, pitāmaha)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents Brahmins as custodians of dharma and Vedic sacrificial culture: they guide society and uphold an inherited, demanding moral-religious responsibility across generations.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma instructs on dharma and social-religious duties. Here he emphasizes the Brahmin’s traditional role as teacher/guide and as one who sustains yajña and ancestral norms.