Shloka 5

Virūpākṣa’s Dāna and Gautama’s Burden — the approach of Rājadharma

Devanagari script

दत्तानुकीर्तिविंषम: क्षुद्रो नैकतिक: शठ: । असंविभागी मानी च तथा सझ्ी विकत्थन:

Transliteration

dattānukīrtiviṁśamaḥ kṣudro naikātikaḥ śaṭhaḥ | asaṁvibhāgī mānī ca tathā saṅgī vikatthanaḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: “Tâu Đại vương, kẻ bị gọi là tàn bạo, quen làm việc hung ác, là kẻ cứ lặp đi lặp lại việc khoe khoang những bố thí của mình; lòng dạ nhỏ nhen, phán xét thiên lệch và gian trá; kẻ không chịu chia sẻ, tự cao tự đại, bám víu dục lạc, và vì cầu lời khen mà khoác lác vô ích.”

Word by Word

• दत्तानुकीर्तिविषमः: one who is uneven/biased in recounting (his) gifts; one who repeatedly proclaims his donations
• दत्तानुकीर्तिविषमः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दत्त-अनुकीर्ति-विषम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• क्षुद्रः: mean, petty
• क्षुद्रः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्षुद्र
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• नैकतिकः: not single-minded; not of one course/party
• नैकतिकः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: न-एकतिक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• शठः: deceitful, rogue
• शठः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शठ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• असंविभागी: one who does not share/distribute
• असंविभागी: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अ-संविभागिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मानी: proud, self-conceited
• मानी: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मानिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• तथा: likewise, also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• सङ्गी: attached; given to company/association
• सङ्गी: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सङ्गिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• विकत्थनः: boastful, braggart
• विकत्थनः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विकत्थन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• King (Yudhishthira, addressed as rājan)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Cruelty is not only physical violence; it is also revealed through character—boasting of one’s gifts, pettiness, bias, deceit, refusal to share, pride, attachment to pleasures, and self-advertising speech.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma addresses the king and lists behavioral markers by which a person is recognized as nṛśaṁsa (ruthless/cruel), continuing a broader catalogue of unethical dispositions.