Shloka 8

Devanagari script

अहिंसा सत्यवचनं दानमिन्द्रियनिग्रह: । एतेभ्यो हि महाराज तपो नानशनात्‌ परम्‌,महाराज! अहिंसा, सत्यभाषण, दान और इन्द्रिय-संयम--इन सबसे बढ़कर तप है और उपवाससे बड़ी कोई तपस्या नहीं है

Transliteration

ahiṃsā satyavacanaṃ dānam indriyanigrahaḥ | etebhyo hi mahārāja tapo nānaśanāt param ||

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: Tâu đại vương, không bạo hại (ahiṃsā), lời nói chân thật, bố thí, và chế ngự các căn—đó đều là khổ hạnh. Nhưng vượt lên trên tất cả, không có sự sám hối/khổ hạnh nào cao hơn việc nhịn ăn, trai giới (upavāsa).

Word by Word

अहिंसाnon-violence

सत्यवचनम्truthful speech

दानम्giving, charity

इन्द्रियनिग्रहःrestraint of the senses

एतेभ्यःfrom these, than these

हिindeed, for

महाराजO great king

तपःausterity, penance

नnot

अनशनात्from fasting; than fasting

परम्higher, superior

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Mahārāja (the king addressed, i.e., Yudhiṣṭhira)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma ranks key moral disciplines—non-violence, truthfulness, charity, and sense-control—as forms of tapas, and then emphasizes fasting as a supreme austerity because it directly curbs craving and strengthens self-mastery in the pursuit of dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs King Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma after the war. Here he is enumerating virtues and austerities, presenting a hierarchy of ethical practices and highlighting fasting as an especially powerful discipline.