Shloka 3

Kāpavya-carita (कापव्यचरित) — Reforming Dasyus through Regulated Rāja-Dharma

Devanagari script

भीष्म उवाच विज्ञानबलमास्थाय जीवितव्यं तथागते । सर्व साध्वर्थमेवेदमसाध्वर्थ न किंचन

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca vijñānabalam āsthāya jīvitavyaṃ tathāgate | sarva-sādhv-artham evedaṃ asādhv-artha na kiṃcana ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“事至如此，当凭辨识与真知之力以存其身。此世所见财富资用，皆为善良贤德之人而设；至于恶人，实无一物可称其应得。”

Word by Word

• {'bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', 'vijñāna': 'discernment, true knowledge, practical wisdom', 'bala': 'strength, power', 'vijñānabalam': 'the strength born of discernment/knowledge', 'āsthāya': 'having resorted to, relying upon', 'jīvitavyam': 'one should live

• life should be sustained', 'tathāgate': 'when it has come to be so

• in such a state/condition having occurred', 'sarva': 'all, entirely', 'sādhu': 'good, virtuous, righteous person', 'artha': 'purpose

• also wealth, means, resources', 'sādhv-artham': 'for the sake/benefit of the virtuous

• meant for the good', 'eva': 'indeed, only', 'idam': 'this (worldly wealth/resources implied)', 'asādhu': 'wicked, unrighteous person', 'asādhv-artha': 'for the wicked

• meant for the wicked', 'na kiṃcana': 'nothing at all'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Yudhishthira

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Sustain life through discernment and ethical intelligence, not through unrighteous means; worldly resources are properly aligned with the welfare of the virtuous, while the wicked have no rightful claim to them.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to Yudhishthira, Bhishma continues advising on dharma and conduct after the war, emphasizing how one should live in difficult circumstances and how wealth is to be understood in moral terms.