Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 22

Kīṭopākhyāna: Prajā-pālana as Kṣatra-vrata and the Attainment of Brāhmaṇya

Devanagari script

नात्मनो<स्ति प्रियतर: पृथिवीमनुसृत्य ह । तस्मात्‌ प्राणिषु सर्वेषु दयावानात्मवान्‌ भवेत्‌

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | nātmano 'sti priyataraḥ pṛthivīm anusṛtya ha | tasmāt prāṇiṣu sarveṣu dayāvān ātmavān bhavet ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“在这世间，对人而言，没有什么比自身更为可爱。因此，应当怜悯一切众生，持守自制，把他人视作自己。”

Word by Word

• na: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na

• ātmanaḥ: of oneself
• ātmanaḥ: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: ātman
• Form: masculine, genitive, singular

• asti: is/exists
• Type: Verb
• Root: as
• Form: present, third, singular, parasmaipada

• priyataraḥ: dearer (more beloved)
• priyataraḥ: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: priyatara
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular, comparative

• pṛthivīm: the earth
• pṛthivīm: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: pṛthivī
• Form: feminine, accusative, singular

• anusṛtya: having followed/considering (in accordance with)
• Type: Verb
• Root: anu-sṛ
• Form: ktvā (absolutive/gerund), active

• ha: indeed/for emphasis
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ha

• tasmāt: therefore/from that reason
• tasmāt: Apadana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tasmāt

• prāṇiṣu: among living beings
• prāṇiṣu: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: prāṇin
• Form: masculine, locative, plural

• sarveṣu: in all
• sarveṣu: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva
• Form: masculine, locative, plural

• dayāvān: compassionate
• dayāvān: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dayāvat
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• ātmavān: self-possessed/self-controlled
• ātmavān: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ātmavat
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• bhavet: should be
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhū
• Form: optative (vidhi-liṅ), third, singular, parasmaipada

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• ātman (self)
• pṛthivī (earth/world)
• prāṇin (living beings)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Since everyone values their own self above all, one should extend that same concern to all beings—cultivating compassion (dayā) and self-mastery (ātmavat), treating others as oneself.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he grounds ethical conduct in a universal psychological truth—self-love—and derives from it the duty of compassion toward all living creatures.