Shloka 35

Śreyas-nirdeśa (Discerning the Superior Good): Nārada–Gālava Saṃvāda

Devanagari script

नास्ति विद्यासमं चक्षुर्नास्ति विद्यासमं फलम्‌

Transliteration

nāsti vidyāsamaṃ cakṣur nāsti vidyāsamaṃ phalam

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: “Không có thị kiến nào sánh bằng tri thức, và không có quả báo nào sánh bằng tri thức.” Trong lời giáo huấn đạo đức của Śānti Parva, điều này khẳng định rằng học vấn vừa là “con mắt nội tâm” sáng tỏ nhất để phân biệt dharma, vừa là trái quả cao quý và bền lâu nhất của nỗ lực con người.

Word by Word

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• अस्ति: is/exists
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (असँ)
• Form: Lat (present indicative), 3rd, singular, Parasmaipada

• विद्या-समम्: equal to knowledge
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विद्या + सम (सम)
• Form: neuter, nominative, singular

• चक्षुः: eye; (metaph.) vision
• चक्षुः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: चक्षुस्
• Form: neuter, nominative, singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• अस्ति: is/exists
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (असँ)
• Form: Lat (present indicative), 3rd, singular, Parasmaipada

• विद्या-समम्: equal to knowledge
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विद्या + सम (सम)
• Form: neuter, nominative, singular

• फलम्: fruit; result
• फलम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: फल
• Form: neuter, nominative, singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Knowledge (vidyā) is portrayed as the highest form of ‘sight’—the capacity to perceive right and wrong—and as the greatest ‘fruit,’ meaning the most valuable and lasting result of human striving.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma is teaching Yudhiṣṭhira about dharma and right living; this verse is a concise maxim emphasizing the supreme value of knowledge within that counsel.