Shloka 9

धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)

Devanagari script

वेदिं कमण्डलुं शुभ्रान्‌ मणीनुपानहौ कुशान्‌ | अजिन्‌ दण्डकाष्ठं च ज्वलितं च हुताशनम्‌

Transliteration

vediṁ kamaṇḍaluṁ śubhrān maṇīn upānahau kuśān | ajin daṇḍakāṣṭhaṁ ca jvalitaṁ ca hutāśanam ||

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: “(Ngài có) bàn tế lễ, bình nước (kamaṇḍalu), những viên ngọc sáng, dép, và cỏ kuśa thiêng; lại có da linh dương, gậy trượng, và ngọn lửa tế lễ đang bừng cháy.”

Word by Word

• वेदिम्: altar
• वेदिम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वेदी
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• कमण्डलुम्: water-pot (ascetic’s vessel)
• कमण्डलुम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कमण्डलु
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• शुभ्रान्: white, bright
• शुभ्रान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शुभ्र
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• मणीन्: gems, jewels
• मणीन्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मणि
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• उपानहौ: a pair of sandals
• उपानहौ: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: उपानह्
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Dual

• कुशान्: kuśa-grass (sacrificial grass)
• कुशान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुश
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• अजिनम्: animal skin (deerskin)
• अजिनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अजिन
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• दण्डकाष्ठम्: staff-wood, a stick (for a staff)
• दण्डकाष्ठम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: दण्डकाष्ठ
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• ज्वलितम्: blazing, kindled
• ज्वलितम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ज्वलित
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• हुताशनम्: fire (lit. ‘eater of oblations’)
• हुताशनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: हुताशन
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• vedi (sacrificial altar)
• kamaṇḍalu (water-pot)
• maṇi (gems)
• upānah (sandals)
• kuśa grass
• ajina (antelope-skin)
• daṇḍa (staff)
• hutāśana/Agni (sacrificial fire)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes the outward and inward markers of dharma: ritual implements and ascetic emblems symbolize purity, restraint, and commitment to sacred duty—suggesting that a righteous life is grounded in disciplined practice and reverence for the sacrificial order.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is describing a figure (or an idealized practitioner) by enumerating the items associated with Vedic rites and ascetic conduct—altar, kuśa grass, fire, staff, skin, and water-pot—thereby portraying a life oriented toward yajña, tapas, and regulated living.