Shloka 6

नृशंस-लक्षणनिर्णयः | Determining the Marks of Cruel Conduct

Nṛśaṃsa

Devanagari script

हीनपुष्पाग्रशाखस्त्वं शीर्णाकुरपलाशक: । आत्मदुर्मन्त्रितेनेह मद्वीर्यवशग: कृत:

Transliteration

hīnapuṣpāgraśākhas tvaṁ śīrṇākurapalāśakaḥ | ātma-durmantriteneha mad-vīryavaśagaḥ kṛtaḥ |

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“你那开花的枝梢与诸枝尽皆败坏，芽与叶也枯萎飘落。正因你自作的昏策，你在此招来这般苦难，并被置于我力量与威势之下。”

Word by Word

• हीन: devoid of, lacking
• हीन: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हीन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पुष्प: of flowers
• पुष्प: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुष्प
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• अग्र: tip, top
• अग्र: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अग्र
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• शाखः: branch (as a member/part)
• शाखः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शाखा
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• त्वम्: you
• त्वम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: त्वद्
• Form: Nominative, Singular

• शीर्ण: withered, fallen off
• शीर्ण: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शीर्ण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अङ्कुर: of sprouts
• अङ्कुर: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अङ्कुर
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• पलाशकः: having leaves (here: leafage)
• पलाशकः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पलाशक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• आत्म: by oneself / by one’s own
• आत्म: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: आत्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• दुर्मन्त्रितेन: by bad counsel / ill-advised act
• दुर्मन्त्रितेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुर्मन्त्रित
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• इह: here, in this matter
• इह: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इह

• मत्: of me / my
• मत्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: Genitive, Singular

• वीर्य: strength, prowess
• वीर्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वीर्य
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• वशगः: subject to, under the control of
• वशगः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वशग
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• कृतः: made, rendered
• कृतः: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृत
• Form: Perfective (past participle), Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Ill counsel and poor judgment (durmantrita) lead to self-created ruin; one becomes vulnerable to external force when one’s own discernment fails.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma quotes a rebuke describing someone (implicitly an addressed party in the exemplum) as stripped of flowers, buds, and leaves—an image of total loss—stating that the misfortune was chosen through one’s own bad decision and has resulted in subjection to another’s power.