Shloka 10

यज्ञेऽहिंसा-प्राधान्यम्

Primacy of Non-Harm in Sacrificial Ethics

Devanagari script

विष्णुमेवाभिजानन्ति सर्वयज्ञेषु ब्राह्मणा:

Transliteration

viṣṇum evābhijānanti sarvayajñeṣu brāhmaṇāḥ

Translation

毗湿摩说道：在一切祭祀仪轨之中，婆罗门终究只认知毗湿奴为真实的所知与所礼敬之对象——那内在之主；一切供献与仪式之义，最终皆归汇于彼。

Word by Word

• विष्णुम्: Vishnu
• विष्णुम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: विष्णु
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• एव: indeed/only
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• अभिजानन्ति: recognize/know
• Type: Verb
• Root: अभि + ज्ञा
• Form: Present, Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

• सर्वयज्ञेषु: in all sacrifices
• सर्वयज्ञेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्वयज्ञ
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Plural

• ब्राह्मणाः: Brahmins
• ब्राह्मणाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्राह्मण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Viṣṇu
• Brāhmaṇas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

All Vedic sacrifices, though diverse in form and deities invoked, culminate in the recognition of Viṣṇu as the ultimate recipient and inner reality of yajña; ritual is thus oriented toward a single supreme principle.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and right understanding, Bhīṣma teaches that learned Brahmanas, when they grasp the true purport of sacrificial rites, identify Viṣṇu as the final focus behind all yajñas.