Shloka 9

परिव्राजक-आचारः (Conduct of the Wandering Renunciant) — Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 269

Devanagari script

समा हार्जवसम्पन्ना: संतुष्टा ज्ञाननिश्चया: । प्रत्यक्षधर्मा: शुचय: श्रद्दधाना: परावरे

Transliteration

samā ārjavasaṃpannāḥ santuṣṭā jñānaniścayāḥ | pratyakṣadharmāḥ śucayaḥ śraddadhānāḥ parāvare ||

Translation

Ca-tỳ-la nói: Họ nhìn mọi loài với con mắt bình đẳng. Được trang bị sự ngay thẳng, tri túc và niềm xác tín vững chắc nơi tri kiến chân thật, họ thực hành một pháp dharma mà quả báo hiển hiện trực tiếp trong kinh nghiệm sống. Thanh tịnh trong tâm và hạnh, họ đặt lòng tin nơi cả “thanh-Phạm” (śabda-brahman: kỷ luật của âm thanh thánh) lẫn “thượng-Phạm” (para-brahman: thực tại tối thượng).

Word by Word

• समाः: equal, impartial
• समाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: समा
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• आर्जवसम्पन्नाः: endowed with straightforwardness
• आर्जवसम्पन्नाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आर्जव-सम्पन्न
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• संतुष्टाः: contented
• संतुष्टाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संतुष्ट
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• ज्ञाननिश्चयाः: firm in knowledge; having certainty of knowledge
• ज्ञाननिश्चयाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ज्ञान-निश्चय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• प्रत्यक्षधर्माः: whose dharma is directly evident / yielding visible results
• प्रत्यक्षधर्माः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रत्यक्ष-धर्म
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• शुचयः: pure, clean (in conduct/mind)
• शुचयः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शुचि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• श्रद्दधानाः: faithful; having श्रद्धा
• श्रद्दधानाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: श्रद्दधान
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• परावरे: in the higher and the lower (i.e., in both: para and apara)
• परावरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पर-अवर
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Dual

Speaker

कपिल उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Kapila

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse praises a model of spiritual-ethical life: impartiality toward all beings, simplicity and honesty, contentment, and a knowledge-based steadiness. It also harmonizes two orientations—reverence for scriptural discipline (śabda-brahman) and devotion to the highest, ineffable reality (para-brahman)—suggesting that purity and direct, lived dharma should culminate in higher realization.

What is happening in the narrative?

Kapila is describing the qualities of exemplary practitioners (ascetics/seekers) within the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation: they are equal-minded, pure, and steadfast in knowledge, and their practice yields visible ethical fruits while remaining grounded in both Vedic authority and the pursuit of the supreme Brahman.