Shloka 4

प्रजाविसर्ग-तत्त्वनिर्णयः | Cosmogony of Elemental Emergence

Bharadvāja–Bhṛgu Dialogue

Devanagari script

सोअब्रवीत्‌ पितरं पुत्र: स्वाध्यायकरणे रतम्‌ | मोक्षधर्मार्थकुशलो लोकतत्त्वविचक्षण:

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca |

so 'bravīt pitaraṃ putraḥ svādhyāya-karaṇe ratam |

mokṣa-dharmārtha-kuśalo loka-tattva-vicakṣaṇaḥ |

yasya vāg-manasī syātāṃ samyak praṇihite sadā |

tapas tyāgaś ca satyaṃ ca sa vai sarvam avāpnuyāt ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：那儿子通达人生之旨——解脱（mokṣa）、法（dharma）与利（artha）——又洞察世间真实之性。一日，他对那专注于自习诵读（svādhyāya）的父亲说道：“若有人言语与心念恒常端正安住，具足苦行（tapas）、舍离与真实（satya），此人确能成就一切。”

Word by Word

• {'bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', "so 'bravīt": 'he said

• he spoke', 'pitaraṃ': 'to the father', 'putraḥ': 'the son', 'svādhyāya': 'self-study

• recitation/study of the Veda', 'svādhyāya-karaṇe ratam': 'engaged in the practice of svādhyāya

• devoted to study', 'mokṣa': 'liberation

• spiritual freedom', 'dharma': 'righteous duty

• moral order', 'artha': 'material prosperity

• practical aims', 'kuśalaḥ': 'skilled

• proficient', 'loka-tattva': 'the reality/principle of the world

• how the world truly is', 'vicakṣaṇaḥ': 'discerning

• perceptive', 'yasya': 'of whom

• whose', 'vāk': 'speech', 'manas': 'mind', 'vāg-manasī': 'speech and mind (together)', 'samyak': 'properly

• rightly', 'praṇihite': 'directed

• set (upon what is right)', 'sadā': 'always', 'tapas': 'austerity

• disciplined effort', 'tyāgaḥ': 'renunciation

• relinquishment', 'satyaṃ': 'truth

• truthfulness', 'sarvam': 'everything

• all aims', 'avāpnuyāt': 'would attain

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• son (putra)
• father (pitṛ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that inner alignment—keeping speech and mind consistently and rightly directed—combined with austerity (tapas), renunciation (tyāga), and truthfulness (satya) leads to the fulfillment of all human aims, including liberation.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma narrates a scene where a wise son, knowledgeable about moksha, dharma, and artha, speaks to his father who is devoted to svādhyāya (sacred study), offering a concise ethical-spiritual maxim about disciplined speech, disciplined mind, and key virtues.