Shloka 6

Devanagari script

अलसग्रहणं प्राप्तो दुर्मेधावी तथोच्यते । बुद्धिलाघवयुक्तेन जनेनादीर्घदर्शिना,जो दूरतककी बात नहीं सोच सकते, ऐसे मन्दबुद्धि मानवोंने उसे आलसीकी उपाधि दे दी। उसे दुर्बुद्धि कहा जाने लगा

Transliteration

alasagrahaṇaṁ prāpto durmedhāvī tathocyate | buddhilāghavayuktena janenādīrghadarśinā ||

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: “Khi một người bị gán cho cái tội ‘lười biếng’, người ta lại còn gọi kẻ ấy là ‘đần độn’. Những kẻ hiểu biết nông cạn, không có tầm nhìn xa, vội vàng dán nhãn như thế—gọi chàng là lười và ngu—vì họ không nắm được điều vượt khỏi khoảnh khắc trước mắt.”

Word by Word

अलसग्रहणम्the taking/attribution of (the label) ‘lazy’

प्राप्तःhaving obtained / came to be (so called)

दुर्मेधावीdull-witted / of bad intellect

तथाthus / in that way

उच्यतेis called / is said

बुद्धिलाघवयुक्तेनby one endowed with lightness/shallowness of intellect

जनेनby a person

अदीर्घदर्शिनाby one who is not far-sighted / short-sighted

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

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?

Do not hastily label someone as lazy or unintelligent; such judgments often arise from shallow understanding and lack of long-term vision. Ethical discernment requires depth and foresight.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction during the Shanti Parva, he comments on how society misjudges people: those who cannot think far ahead quickly accuse someone of laziness and then also call him dull-witted.