Shloka 17

Devanagari script

सर्वे तथानुजीवेयुर्न कुर्यु: कर्म चेदिह । सर्व एव इमे लोका न भवेयुरसंशयम्‌,यदि ऐसी व्यवस्था न होती तो सब लोग भीख माँगकर ही गुजारा करते, कोई भी यहाँ कर्म नहीं करता। ऐसी दशामें ये सम्पूर्ण जगत्‌के लोग निःसंदेह नष्ट हो जाते

Transliteration

sarve tathānujīveyur na kuryuḥ karma ced iha | sarva eva ime lokā na bhaveyur asaṁśayam ||

Translation

Bhishma nói: Nếu con người ở đời này được phép sống chỉ bằng cách ấy (nương vào xin xỏ mà không lao động), thì sẽ chẳng ai chịu hành động hay làm việc. Trong tình trạng đó, mọi thế giới này—tức toàn bộ trật tự nhân gian—ắt hẳn không thể tồn tại.

Word by Word

सर्वेall (people)

तथाthus, in that manner

अनुजीवेयुःwould live by (subsist on)

नnot

कुर्युःwould do

कर्मwork, action

चेत्if

इहhere (in this world)

सर्वेall

एवindeed, just

इमेthese

लोकाःworlds; people

नnot

भवेयुःwould be; would exist

असंशयम्undoubtedly

Speaker

भीष्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

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 emphasizes that society cannot be sustained if people abandon productive duty and try to live without work; the continuity of the world depends on everyone undertaking appropriate karma (responsible action).

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and the foundations of social stability; here he argues that a system that encourages non-workful subsistence would collapse society, so duty and labor are necessary for the world’s maintenance.