Shloka 10

Bhīṣma Parva, Adhyāya 4 — Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Vyāsa Saṃvāda on Kāla and Jayalakṣaṇa

Signs of Victory

Devanagari script

द्विविधानीह भूतानि चराणि स्थावराणि च । त्रसानां त्रिविधा योनिरण्डस्वेदजरायुजा:

Transliteration

dvividhānīha bhūtāni carāṇi sthāvarāṇi ca | trasānāṃ trividhā yonir aṇḍa-sveda-jarāyujāḥ ||

Translation

三阇耶说道：“大王啊，此世众生有二类：能动者与不动者。于能动之类，其生有三：卵生者、湿生者、胎生者。”

Word by Word

• द्विविधानि: of two kinds
• द्विविधानि: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्विविध
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• इह: here (in this world)
• इह: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इह

• भूतानि: beings, creatures
• भूतानि: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भूत
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• चराणि: moving (creatures)
• चराणि: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चर
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• स्थावराणि: immobile (creatures)
• स्थावराणि: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्थावर
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• त्रसानाम्: of the moving beings
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्रस
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• त्रिविधा: threefold
• त्रिविधा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: त्रिविध
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• योनि: womb, source of birth
• योनि: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: योनि
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• अण्ड: egg
• Type: Noun
• Root: अण्ड
• Form: Neuter, Stem (in compound), Singular

• स्वेद: sweat, moisture
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वेद
• Form: Masculine, Stem (in compound), Singular

• जरायु: placenta, membrane
• Type: Noun
• Root: जरायु
• Form: Neuter, Stem (in compound), Singular

• जा: born (from)
• जा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ज (धातु: जन्/जॄ) + क्त (ज)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• King Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents a traditional Indian taxonomy of life: all beings are broadly immobile or mobile, and mobile beings arise through three principal modes of birth—egg-born, moisture-born, and womb-born—framing the world as orderly and classifiable.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, narrating to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, shifts into a descriptive, instructive register, explaining categories of living beings as part of a broader exposition within Bhīṣma Parva.