Shloka 9

परिव्राजक-आचारः (Conduct of the Wandering Renunciant) — Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 269

Devanagari script

समा हार्जवसम्पन्ना: संतुष्टा ज्ञाननिश्चया: । प्रत्यक्षधर्मा: शुचय: श्रद्दधाना: परावरे

Transliteration

samā ārjavasaṃpannāḥ santuṣṭā jñānaniścayāḥ | pratyakṣadharmāḥ śucayaḥ śraddadhānāḥ parāvare ||

Translation

迦毗罗说道：他们以平等之眼观一切众生。具直心、知足与真实智之坚固信解，修行那种果报在现世经验中即可明见的法。身心清净，既信“声梵”（śabda-brahman：圣音之梵），亦信“上梵”（para-brahman：至上实在）。

Word by Word

• समाः: equal, impartial
• समाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: समा
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• आर्जवसम्पन्नाः: endowed with straightforwardness
• आर्जवसम्पन्नाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आर्जव-सम्पन्न
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• संतुष्टाः: contented
• संतुष्टाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संतुष्ट
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• ज्ञाननिश्चयाः: firm in knowledge; having certainty of knowledge
• ज्ञाननिश्चयाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ज्ञान-निश्चय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• प्रत्यक्षधर्माः: whose dharma is directly evident / yielding visible results
• प्रत्यक्षधर्माः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रत्यक्ष-धर्म
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• शुचयः: pure, clean (in conduct/mind)
• शुचयः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शुचि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• श्रद्दधानाः: faithful; having श्रद्धा
• श्रद्दधानाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: श्रद्दधान
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• परावरे: in the higher and the lower (i.e., in both: para and apara)
• परावरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पर-अवर
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Dual

Speaker

कपिल उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Kapila

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse praises a model of spiritual-ethical life: impartiality toward all beings, simplicity and honesty, contentment, and a knowledge-based steadiness. It also harmonizes two orientations—reverence for scriptural discipline (śabda-brahman) and devotion to the highest, ineffable reality (para-brahman)—suggesting that purity and direct, lived dharma should culminate in higher realization.

What is happening in the narrative?

Kapila is describing the qualities of exemplary practitioners (ascetics/seekers) within the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation: they are equal-minded, pure, and steadfast in knowledge, and their practice yields visible ethical fruits while remaining grounded in both Vedic authority and the pursuit of the supreme Brahman.