Shloka 52

Treasury Security, Protection of Informants, and the Kalakavṛkṣīya Exemplum (Śānti Parva 83)

Devanagari script

उषितं शड्कमानेन प्रमादं परिरक्षता । अन्तःसर्प इवागारे वीरपत्न्या इवालये

Transliteration

uṣitaṃ ṣaḍkamānena pramādaṃ parirakṣatā | antaḥsarpa ivāgāre vīrapatnyā ivālaye

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: “Phải sống với sự cảnh giác sáu bề, cẩn trọng giữ mình khỏi lơ là—như con rắn ẩn trong nhà, hay như người vợ của chiến binh trong mái ấm—luôn tỉnh thức, tự chế và nhạy bén trước hiểm nguy.”

Word by Word

उषितम्dwelt/stayed (having stayed)

शङ्कमानेनby one who is suspecting/fearing

प्रमादम्carelessness, negligence

परिरक्षताby one who is guarding/avoiding

अन्तःसर्पःan inner/hidden serpent

इवlike, as if

अगारेin a house

वीरपत्न्याby/like a hero's wife

इवlike, as if

आलयेin a dwelling, in a home

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

antaḥsarpa (hidden serpent)

agāra/ālaya (house/home)

vīrapatnī (warrior’s wife)

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?

Bhīṣma teaches that one must actively guard against pramāda (heedlessness). Ethical life requires sustained vigilance and self-restraint, because danger and moral downfall can arise subtly from within one’s own environment and habits.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and right conduct. Here he uses vivid similes—a concealed snake in a house and the guarded presence of a warrior’s wife at home—to stress constant alertness and careful living.