Shloka 44

Kośa, Bala, and Maryādā: Treasury, Capacity, and Enforceable Limits (कोश-बल-मर्यादा)

Devanagari script

सर्वोपायैराददीत धन यज्ञप्रयोजनम्‌ । न तुल्यदोष: स्यादेवं कार्याकार्येषु भारत,भरतनन्दन! यज्ञ करनेके उद्देश्यको लेकर सभी उपायोंसे धनका संग्रह करे; इस प्रकार करने और न करने योग्य कर्म बन जानेपर भी कर्ताको अन्य अवसरोंके समान दोष नहीं लगता

Transliteration

sarvopāyair ādadīta dhanaṁ yajñaprayojanam | na tulyadoṣaḥ syād evaṁ kāryākāryeṣu bhārata bharatanandana ||

Translation

Bhishma nói: “Vì mục đích tế lễ (yajña), người ta nên gom góp của cải bằng mọi phương cách có thể. Hỡi Bharata, niềm vui của dòng Bharata, khi hành động và không hành động rối vào nhau như thế, kẻ hành sự không mắc cùng một thứ tội trách như trong những dịp khác.”

Word by Word

सर्वोपायैःby all means/remedies

आददीतshould take/should acquire

धनम्wealth

यज्ञप्रयोजनम्for the purpose of sacrifice

नnot

तुल्यदोषःan equal/fitting fault (like in other cases)

स्यात्would be/should be

एवम्thus/in this way

कार्याकार्येषुin (matters of) what should and should not be done

भारतO Bharata

भरतनन्दनO delight of Bharata (descendant of Bharata)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Bhārata (Yudhiṣṭhira)

Bharata (dynastic ancestor, as epithet)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma highlights a dharma-ambiguity: when a sacred end like sustaining a yajña is at stake, one may resort to many practical means to obtain resources, and the moral blame is not judged as strictly as in ordinary situations—because the context (kārya vs. akārya) becomes complex and intention/purpose (prayojana) matters.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and governance, Bhishma advises Yudhiṣṭhira on difficult ethical choices. Here he addresses how a ruler/householder might procure wealth for ritual obligations, noting that in such constrained circumstances the agent’s fault is not equivalent to that incurred in normal cases.