Shloka 144

Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)

Devanagari script

स्नाह्मालभ पिब प्राश जुहुध्यग्नीन्‌ यजेत्यपि । ब्रवीहि शृूणु चापीति विवश: कार्यते परै:

Transliteration

snāhi mālabha piba prāśa juhudhy agnīn yajety api | brūhi śṛṇu cāpīti vivaśaḥ kāryate paraiḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma nói: “Hãy tắm; hãy xoa dầu; hãy uống nước; hãy ăn; hãy rưới lễ vật; hãy dự nghi lễ tế lửa; hãy nói, và cũng hãy lắng nghe.” Với những lời thúc giục lặp đi lặp lại như thế, người đời ép nhà vua phải làm theo, trói ông vào khuôn phép và bổn phận công cộng, thay vì để ông tự do định đoạt.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'snāhi', 'meaning': 'bathe (imperative)'}, {'term': 'mālabha (mā + alabha)', 'meaning': 'have oil/unguent applied

• anoint yourself (imperative sense)'}, {'term': 'piba', 'meaning': 'drink (imperative)'}, {'term': 'prāśa', 'meaning': 'eat

• partake of food (imperative)'}, {'term': 'juhudhi', 'meaning': 'offer oblations

• pour into the fire (imperative)'}, {'term': 'agnīn', 'meaning': 'the sacred fires (especially household/ritual fires)'}, {'term': 'yajet', 'meaning': 'he should sacrifice

• perform worship/ritual (optative/vidhi sense)'}, {'term': 'brūhi', 'meaning': 'speak

• say (imperative)'}, {'term': 'śṛṇu', 'meaning': 'listen

• hear (imperative)'}, {'term': 'vivaśaḥ', 'meaning': 'helpless

• not acting freely'}, {'term': 'kāryate', 'meaning': 'is made to do

• is caused to act'}, {'term': 'paraiḥ', 'meaning': 'by others

Speaker

भीष्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• king (rājā, implied addressee)
• sacred fires (agnīḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma highlights how a ruler’s agency can be eroded by constant directives from attendants, priests, and courtiers. The ethical point is that governance requires inner autonomy and discernment; otherwise, even ‘dutiful’ actions become mere compliance under pressure.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction on royal conduct in the Shanti Parva, he describes the king’s daily life being filled with commands—bathe, anoint, eat, perform offerings, speak and listen—so that the king is driven by others’ expectations and ritual schedules rather than acting freely.