Shloka 14

Gautama’s Flight, the Enchanted Grove, and the Arrival of Rājadharma

Nāḍījaṅgha

Devanagari script

अक्षमाया: क्षमायाश्ष प्रियाणीहाप्रियाणि च । क्षमते सम्मतः साधु: साध्वाप्रोति च सत्यवाक्‌

Transliteration

akṣamāyāḥ kṣamāyāś ca priyāṇīhāpriyāṇi ca | kṣamate sammataḥ sādhuḥ sādhv āpnoti ca satyavāk ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：真正的善人、为众人所共许者，是那能同样忍受可忍与难忍之行，亦能同样承受悦耳与刺耳之言的人。唯有言语守真、奉持真实者，方能正当地成就圆满的宽恕之德。

Word by Word

• {'akṣamā': 'intolerance

• impatience', 'kṣamā': 'forbearance

• patient endurance', 'priyāṇi': 'pleasant things

• agreeable words/acts', 'apriyāṇi': 'unpleasant things

• disagreeable words/acts', 'iha': 'here (in this world/this context)', 'ca': 'and', 'kṣamate': 'endures

• bears patiently', 'sammataḥ': 'approved

• esteemed (by all)', 'sādhuḥ': 'good person

• virtuous one', 'sādhv': 'properly

• well', 'āpnoti': 'attains

• obtains', 'satyavāk': 'truth-speaker

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True virtue is shown by equal endurance of pleasant and unpleasant treatment; forgiveness (kṣamā) becomes stable and exemplary when grounded in truthfulness (satya) and disciplined speech.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma continues advising on moral conduct, defining the universally respected ‘sādhu’ as one who practices forbearance toward both agreeable and disagreeable words and behaviors, and linking this capacity to being a truthful speaker.