Shloka 15

Āśvamedhika-parva, Adhyāya 14

Consolation of Yudhiṣṭhira; Rites and Gifts; Return to Hastināpura

Devanagari script

महादानानि विप्रेभ्यो ददतामौर्ध्वदेहिकम्‌ । भीष्मकर्णपुरोगाणां कुरूणां कुरुसत्तम

Transliteration

mahādānāni viprebhyo dadatām aurdhvadehikam | bhīṣma-karṇa-purogāṇāṁ kurūṇāṁ kurusattama

Translation

毗耶娑之弟子外沙姆帕耶那说道：“噢，俱卢族中最卓越者！由毗湿摩与迦尔那率领的俱卢诸英雄，正向婆罗门施以大布施，并行与亡者相关的仪轨与施舍——即丧葬与身后义务之礼。”

Word by Word

• महादानानि: great gifts
• महादानानि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: महादान
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• विप्रेभ्यः: to the Brahmins
• विप्रेभ्यः: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: विप्र
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Plural

• ददताम्: let (them) give / may (they) give
• ददताम्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा (ददाति)
• Form: Present, Third, Plural, Parasmaipada, Imperative

• और्ध्वदेहिकम्: funerary/for the after-death rites
• और्ध्वदेहिकम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: और्ध्वदेहिक
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• भीष्म: of Bhishma
• भीष्म: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: भीष्म
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• कर्ण: of Karna
• कर्ण: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्ण
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• पुरोगाणाम्: having (them) in front / led by (them)
• पुरोगाणाम्: Sambandha
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पुरोग
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• कुरूणाम्: of the Kurus
• कुरूणाम्: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुरु
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• कुरुसत्तम: O best of the Kurus
• कुरुसत्तम: Sambodhana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुरुसत्तम
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Bhīṣma
• Karṇa
• Kurus
• brāhmaṇas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights dharma expressed through dāna and aurdhvadehika obligations: honoring the dead and sustaining the learned (brāhmaṇas) through prescribed gifts and rites, showing that social and spiritual duties continue even amid royal and martial life.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes the Kurus, with Bhīṣma and Karṇa as prominent figures, engaged in distributing major gifts to brāhmaṇas as part of rites and charitable acts connected with the departed—an image of formal, tradition-bound observance within the Kuru milieu.