Shloka 20

Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)

Devanagari script

अस्थिसंचयसंकीर्णा महाभूतरवाकुला । शून्यभूयिष्तनगरा दग्धग्रामनिवेशना

Transliteration

asthisaṃcayasaṃkīrṇā mahābhūtaravākulā | śūnyabhūyiṣṭanagarā dagdhagrāmaniveśanā ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“四处散布着堆堆白骨；整个地域为众生的巨大哀号所震荡。城中大半荒弃，村落与家宅尽被焚毁。”

Word by Word

• अस्थि-संचय-संकीर्णाः: strewn/mixed with heaps of bones
• अस्थि-संचय-संकीर्णाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संकीर्ण (√कॄ 'to scatter/mix' + सम्)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• महाभूत-रव-आकुलाः: filled with the great cries/roars (of beings)
• महाभूत-रव-आकुलाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आकुल (आ + √कुल 'to be agitated/confused')
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• शून्य-भूयिष्ठ-नगराः: cities mostly empty/deserted
• शून्य-भूयिष्ठ-नगराः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नगर
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• दग्ध-ग्राम-निवेशनाः: settlements/villages burnt down
• दग्ध-ग्राम-निवेशनाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: निवेशन
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• city (nagara)
• villages (grāma)
• dwellings/settlements (niveśana)
• bones (asthi)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the ethical cost of violence: war leaves not only victory or defeat but widespread suffering, desolation, and the stark reminder of mortality. In the Shanti Parva’s moral frame, such imagery supports reflection on dharma, restraint, and compassion after conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma depicts a landscape of ruin—bones piled everywhere, cries of distressed beings filling the air, cities largely emptied, and villages and homes burned—evoking the grim aftermath of large-scale destruction.