Shloka 66
Tapas, Tīrtha, and Moral Rehabilitation (Śānti-parva 148)
Devanagari script
यथा स्वल्पं सरो ग्रीष्मे शोषयिष्याम्यहं तथा । “आजसे मैं अपने शरीरको सम्पूर्ण भोगोंसे वंचित करके उसी प्रकार सुखा डालूँगा, जैसे गर्मीमें छोटा-सा तालाब सूख जाता है
Transliteration
yathā svalpaṃ saro grīṣme śoṣayiṣyāmy ahaṃ tathā |
Translation
毗湿摩说道：“正如盛夏酷热使一方小池干涸，我也将使此身枯槁——我将有意让它远离一切享乐。”
Word by Word
यथाjust as
यथा:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootयथा
स्वल्पम्small, little
स्वल्पम्:
TypeAdjective
Rootस्वल्प
FormNeuter, Nominative, Singular
सरःlake, pond
सरः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootसरस्
FormNeuter, Nominative, Singular
ग्रीष्मेin summer
ग्रीष्मे:
Adhikarana
TypeNoun
Rootग्रीष्म
FormMasculine, Locative, Singular
शोषयिष्यामिI will dry up
शोषयिष्यामि:
TypeVerb
Rootशुष्
FormSimple Future (Luṭ), 1st, Singular, Parasmaipada, Parasmaipada
अहम्I
अहम्:
Karta
TypePronoun
Rootअहम्
Form—, Nominative, Singular
तथाso, in that manner
तथा:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootतथा
Speaker
भीष्म उवाच
Characters & Entities
B
BhīṣmaP
pond (saraḥ)S
summer (grīṣma)Character Dynamics
Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)
War Context
Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)
Philosophical Teaching
Political Layer
Geographic Context
Meter (Chandas)
Sandhi Notes
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches deliberate self-restraint: by withdrawing from sense-pleasures, one weakens attachment and the body’s demands, cultivating detachment and ethical steadiness.
Bhīṣma, speaking as a moral instructor in the Śānti Parva, uses a vivid simile—summer drying a small pond—to express his resolve to deny the body indulgence and thereby ‘dry up’ its cravings.