Shloka 21

Vyaktāvyakta-Viveka and Nivṛtti as Paramā Gati

Manifest–Unmanifest Discrimination and the Supreme Path of Withdrawal

Devanagari script

गान्धर्व नारदो वेद भरद्वाजो धर्नुग्रहम्‌ । देवर्षिचरितं गार्ग्य: कृष्णात्रेयश्विकित्सितम्‌,नारदजीको गान्धर्व वेदका, भरद्वाजको धरनुर्वेदका, महर्षि गार्ग्यको देवर्षियोंके चरित्रका तथा कृष्णात्रेयको चिकित्साशास्त्रका ज्ञान हुआ

Transliteration

gāndharvaṃ nārado veda bharadvājo dhanur-graham | devarṣi-caritaṃ gārgyaḥ kṛṣṇātreyaś cikitsitam ||

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: Nārada tinh thông Gandharva-veda (nhạc học và nghệ thuật cõi trời); Bharadvāja tinh thông Dhanur-veda (khoa học cung tiễn); hiền triết Gārgya am tường công hạnh và truyền thống của các devarṣi; và Kṛṣṇa Ātreya tinh thông y học.

Word by Word

गान्धर्वःGāndharva (a sage/authority on music)

नारदःNārada

वेदknew / came to know

भरद्वाजःBharadvāja

धनुः-ग्रहंthe science/skill of archery (lit. taking up the bow)

देवर्षि-चरितंthe deeds/biography of the divine seers

गार्ग्यःGārgya

कृष्णात्रेयःKṛṣṇātreya

चिकित्सितम्medical science / therapeutics

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Narada

Bharadvaja

Gargya

Krishna Atreya

Gandharva-vidya (Gandharva lore)

Dhanurveda (science of archery)

Devarshi-carita (accounts of divine seers)

Chikitsa (medical science)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma is strengthened by disciplined mastery of knowledge: different sages embody different vidyās, showing that ethical life includes cultivating and applying one’s specialized skill for the good of the world.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma lists exemplary sages and the fields they mastered—music (Narada), archery (Bharadvaja), traditions of divine seers (Gargya), and medicine (Krishna Atreya)—as part of a broader Shanti Parva discourse on learning, conduct, and the supports of righteous order.