Shloka 9

अबुद्धिपूर्वकपापविमोचनप्रश्नः — Janamejaya’s Unintended Transgression and the Indrota Rebuke

Devanagari script

अस्माकं विहिता वृत्ति: कापोती जातिधर्मत:

Transliteration

asmākaṃ vihitā vṛttiḥ kāpotī jātidharmataḥ

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: “Đối với chúng ta, nếp sống được quy định là lối hành xử ‘như chim bồ câu’, được định bởi bổn phận bẩm sinh của giống loại mình.”

Word by Word

• अस्माकम्: of us / our
• अस्माकम्: सम्बन्ध
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: —, षष्ठी, बहुवचन

• विहिता: ordained / prescribed
• विहिता: विशेषण
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वि + धा (धातु) → विहित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• वृत्तिः: mode of life / conduct / livelihood
• वृत्तिः: कर्ता
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृत्ति
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• कापोती: pigeon-like / pertaining to the pigeon
• कापोती: विशेषण
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कापोती
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• जातिधर्मतः: from (our) class-nature / by the law of species
• जातिधर्मतः: अपादान
• Type: Noun
• Root: जाति + धर्म (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी, एकवचन

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

One should follow a livelihood and conduct that is ‘prescribed’ and aligned with one’s inherent nature (jāti-dharma/svadharma), here exemplified by the gentle, non-aggressive ‘pigeon-like’ way of living.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma in the Śānti Parva, he states a principle of ethical living: the proper ‘vṛtti’ (way of life) is the one ordained for a being according to its innate duty, illustrated through the metaphor of a pigeon’s simple, harmless conduct.