Shloka 8

भिक्षुलक्षणम्—एकचर्याः, अहिंसा, कैवल्याश्रमः

Marks of the Mendicant: Solitary Wandering, Non-Injury, and the Kaivalya-Discipline

Devanagari script

आक्रीडानां गृहाणां च गदानामगदस्य च । प्रज्ञावन्त: प्रयोक्तारो ज्ञानवद्धिरनुछिता:

Transliteration

ākrīḍānāṁ gṛhāṇāṁ ca gadānām agadasya ca | prajñāvantaḥ prayoktāro jñānavaddhir anucchitāḥ ||

Translation

毗耶娑说：游乐之地与居住之舍，皆以意志而营造；同样，疾病被辨识，药物被精确施用。此等作为并非偶然，也非自然自作自成；唯有具明辨、具知识与技艺之人，方能如法而行。

Word by Word

• {'ākrīḍānām': 'of play-grounds, places for sport/recreation', 'gṛhāṇām': 'of houses, dwellings', 'ca': 'and', 'gadānām': 'of diseases, ailments', 'agadasya': 'of medicine/antidote, remedy', 'prajñāvantaḥ': 'the wise, discerning persons', 'prayoktāraḥ': 'appliers, practitioners

• those who employ (means) correctly', 'jñānavadbhiḥ': 'by those possessing knowledge', 'anucchitāḥ': 'properly performed/observed

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa
• ākrīḍa (playground)
• gṛha (house)
• gada (disease)
• agada (medicine/remedy)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes purposeful human agency guided by knowledge: meaningful structures and effective remedies come from intelligent planning and correct application, not from mere accident or automatic nature.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa illustrates a philosophical point using everyday examples—building places to live and play, and diagnosing and treating illness—to argue that competent, knowledgeable persons are the true instruments behind orderly outcomes.