Shloka 40

Haṃsa–Sādhya Saṃvāda: Satya, Dama, Kṣamā and the Discipline of Speech

Devanagari script

पुंस्त्वोपघातं कालेन दर्शनोपरमं तथा । बाधिरय॑ प्राणमन्दत्वं यः पश्यति स मुच्यते

Transliteration

puṁstvopaghātaṁ kālena darśanoparamaṁ tathā | bādhiryaṁ prāṇamandatvaṁ yaḥ paśyati sa mucyate ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“随着时序推移，时光摧折男子的雄健；目力亦将终止；听觉转为耳聋；而生命之气极度衰微。能恒常观照这些真实，并加以省思者，便能解脱世间系缚。”

Word by Word

• पुंस्त्वोपघातम्: the destruction/impairment of manhood
• पुंस्त्वोपघातम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुंस्त्व-उपघात
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• कालेन: by time
• कालेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: काल
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• दर्शन-उपरमम्: cessation of seeing (loss of sight)
• दर्शन-उपरमम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: दर्शन-उपरम
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• तथा: and likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• बाधिर्यम्: deafness
• बाधिर्यम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: बाधिर्य
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• प्राण-मन्दत्वम्: weakness of vital energy/breath
• प्राण-मन्दत्वम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राण-मन्दत्व
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• यः: who (he who)
• यः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पश्यति: sees/observes
• Type: Verb
• Root: पश्
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मुच्यते: is released / becomes free
• Type: Verb
• Root: मुच्
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Passive (Karmani)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Time (Kāla)
• Sight (Darśana)
• Hearing (Śravaṇa/implicit)
• Vital force (Prāṇa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Contemplation of impermanence—how time inevitably erodes strength, senses, and vitality—cultivates dispassion (vairāgya) and loosens attachment, leading toward liberation from saṁsāra.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma and the path to inner peace; here he emphasizes reflective awareness of aging and decline as a practical means to detach from worldly clinging.