Shloka 48

Daṇḍa-svarūpa-nirūpaṇa

The Nature, Forms, and Function of Daṇḍa

Devanagari script

धनं भोगं पुत्रदारं समद्धि सर्व लुब्धः प्रार्थयते परेषाम्‌ । लुब्धे दोषा: सम्भवन्तीह सर्वे तस्माद्‌ राजा न प्रगृह्नीत लुब्धम्‌,लोभी मनुष्य दूसरोंके धन, भोग-सामग्री, स्त्री-पुत्र और समृद्धि सबको प्राप्त करना चाहता है। लोभीमें सब प्रकारके दोष प्रकट होते हैं; अत: राजा उसे अपने यहाँ किसी पदपर स्थान न दे

Transliteration

Bhīṣma uvāca: dhanaṁ bhogaṁ putradāraṁ samṛddhiṁ sarva-lubdhaḥ prārthayate pareṣām | lubdhe doṣāḥ sambhavantiha sarve tasmād rājā na pragṛhṇīta lubdham ||

Translation

Bhishma nói: “Kẻ bị lòng tham thiêu đốt thì thèm muốn mọi thứ thuộc về người khác—của cải, thú vui, vợ con và sự thịnh vượng. Nơi kẻ tham, mọi thứ lỗi lầm đều nảy sinh trong đời này; vì thế nhà vua chớ thu nhận kẻ tham vào việc nước hay bổ nhiệm chức vị.”

Word by Word

• {'dhanaṁ': 'wealth, money, property', 'bhogam': 'enjoyment

• comforts', 'putradāram': 'sons and wife

• family (children and spouse)', 'samṛddhim': 'prosperity, affluence, flourishing condition', 'sarva-lubdhaḥ': 'one wholly greedy

• utterly covetous person', 'prārthayate': 'desires, seeks, begs for, covets', 'pareṣām': 'of others

• belonging to others', 'lubdhe': 'in the greedy person', 'doṣāḥ': 'faults, vices, moral defects', 'sambhavanti': 'arise, come into being, manifest', 'iha': 'here (in this world/context)', 'sarve': 'all (without exception)', 'tasmāt': 'therefore, for that reason', 'rājā': 'king

• one who governs', 'na': 'not', 'pragṛhṇīta': 'should accept/appoint/take into service', 'lubdham': 'a greedy person'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• rājā (the king/ruler)
• lubdha (the greedy person)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Greed is a root-vice that generates many other faults; therefore a ruler must avoid empowering greedy people, since their covetousness leads to corruption and harm to others.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on governance and dharma, Bhishma advises the king on whom to trust and appoint, warning that a greedy person covets others’ wealth and relationships and thus becomes unfit for royal office.