Shloka 6

Devanagari script

न हाधर्मतयाधर्म दद्यात्‌ काल: कथंचन । तस्माद्‌ विशुद्धमात्मानं जानीयाद्‌ धर्मचारिणम्‌

Transliteration

na hādharmatayā dharmaṁ dadyāt kālaḥ kathaṁcana | tasmād viśuddham ātmānaṁ jānīyād dharmacāriṇam ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“时间绝不能以任何方式把达摩变成非达摩；它不能使正法本身成为不正。故当认知行达摩者具清净之我——苦难与时运的逆转，不能在道德秩序中真正玷污他、否定他。”

Word by Word

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

• ha: indeed (emphatic particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ha

• adharmatayā: by/through unrighteousness; by the state of adharma
• adharmatayā: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: adharmatā
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• dharmaḥ: dharma, righteousness
• dharmaḥ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: dharma
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• dadyāt: would give / should give / could cause (to give)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dā
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• kālaḥ: time; fate
• kālaḥ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: kāla
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• kathaṃcana: in any way; at all
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: kathaṃcana

• tasmāt: therefore; from that
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tasmad

• viśuddham: pure, purified
• Type: Adjective
• Root: viśuddha
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• ātmānam: self, soul
• ātmānam: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: ātman
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• jānīyāt: should know/recognize
• Type: Verb
• Root: jñā
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• dharmacāriṇam: one who practices dharma; a righteous person
• dharmacāriṇam: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: dharmacārin
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Kāla (Time)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma is intrinsically pure and cannot be converted into adharma by the pressures of time or circumstance; therefore a true practitioner of dharma should be regarded as inwardly purified, even if they face hardship.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction (Anushasana Parva), he emphasizes to his listener that misfortune or delay caused by time does not invalidate righteousness; the righteous person’s moral status remains intact despite suffering.