Shloka 51

अध्याय १७८ — प्राणवायुगतिः तथा शारीराग्निव्यवस्था

Adhyāya 178 — The courses of prāṇa-vāyu and the regulation of the bodily fire

Devanagari script

यच्च कामसुखं लोके यच्च दिव्यं महत्सुखम्‌ । तृष्णाक्षयसुखस्यैते नाहत: षोडशीं कलाम्‌

Transliteration

yacca kāmasukhaṁ loke yacca divyaṁ mahatsukham | tṛṣṇākṣayasukhasyaite nāhataḥ ṣoḍaśīṁ kalām ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“此世由感官境界生起的一切乐，以及彼世所称的广大天福——二者合起来，也不及灭尽渴爱之乐的十六分之一。”

Word by Word

• यत्: whatever (that which)
• यत्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• कामसुखम्: pleasure of desire/sense-pleasure
• कामसुखम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कामसुख
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• लोके: in the world
• लोके: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोक
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• यत्: whatever (that which)
• यत्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• दिव्यम्: divine, heavenly
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दिव्य
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• महत्: great
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• सुखम्: happiness, pleasure
• सुखम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुख
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• तृष्णाक्षयसुखस्य: of the happiness arising from the destruction of craving
• Type: Noun
• Root: तृष्णाक्षयसुख
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• एते: these two
• एते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• आहतः: attains/reaches; is equal to (lit. struck up to)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-हन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, kta (past passive participle)

• षोडशीम्: sixteenth
• षोडशीम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: षोडश
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• कलाम्: part, fraction, portion
• कलाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कला
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Sense-pleasures (kāma-sukha) and even celestial delights are inferior to the joy of tṛṣṇā-kṣaya—ending craving. The verse elevates inner freedom and contentment over external enjoyment, presenting renunciation of thirst as the highest happiness.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and the means to peace after the war. Here he emphasizes a renunciant ethical insight: lasting happiness comes from extinguishing craving, not from accumulating pleasures in this world or the next.