Shloka 16

त्रिवर्गविचारः

Tri-varga Deliberation: Dharma, Artha, Kāma

Devanagari script

अकार्पण्यमसंरम्भ: संतोष: प्रियवादिता । अविहिंसानसूया चाप्येषां समुदयो दम:

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | akāṛpaṇyam asaṃrambhaḥ santoṣaḥ priyavāditā | avihiṃsā anasūyā cāpy eṣāṃ samudayo damaḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: “Không keo kiệt, không nóng nảy xao động, biết đủ, và quen nói lời êm dịu; lại thêm bất bạo động và không bới móc chê trách người khác—khi các đức ấy cùng khởi lên trong một người, sự hội tụ ấy được gọi là dama, tức tự chế.”

Word by Word

• {'bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', 'akāṛpaṇya (akārpaṇya)': 'non-miserliness

• absence of petty-mindedness', 'asaṃrambha': 'non-impulsiveness

• absence of violent excitement or rashness', 'santoṣa': 'contentment

• satisfaction', 'priyavāditā': 'pleasant speech

• speaking kindly and agreeably', 'avihiṃsā': 'non-injury

• non-violence toward living beings', 'anasūyā': 'non-carping

• freedom from envy and fault-finding', 'samudaya': 'arising together

• conjunction', 'dama': 'self-restraint

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma defines dama (self-restraint) not as a single act but as the combined rise of key virtues—generosity, calmness, contentment, kind speech, non-violence, and non-fault-finding—showing that inner discipline is measured by stable ethical dispositions.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma continues his didactic discourse, offering Yudhishthira a concise definition of dama by listing the traits that together constitute genuine self-restraint.