Shloka 18

Adhyāya 290: Sāṃkhya-vidhi, Deha-doṣa, Guṇa-vicāra, and Mokṣa-gati

Bhīṣma–Yudhiṣṭhira Dialogue

Devanagari script

कदाचित्‌ सुकृतं तात कूटस्थमिव तिष्ठति । मज्जमानस्य संसारे यावद्‌ दुःखाद विमुच्यते

Transliteration

kadācit sukṛtaṃ tāta kūṭastham iva tiṣṭhati | majjamānasya saṃsāre yāvad duḥkhād vimucyate ||

Translation

有时，孩子啊，所积之福德坚住不动，宛如已然安立的磐石，直至那沉没于轮回（saṃsāra）者终于从苦中解脱。

Word by Word

• कदाचित्: sometimes
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कदाचित्

• सुकृतम्: merit; good deed
• सुकृतम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुकृत
• Form: neuter, nominative, singular

• तात: dear one; son (vocative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तात
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

• कूटस्थम्: unchanging; steadfast; like an anvil/peak (immovable)
• कूटस्थम्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कूटस्थ
• Form: neuter, nominative, singular

• इव: as if; like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• तिष्ठति: stands; remains
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्था
• Form: present, third, singular, parasmaipada

• मज्जमानस्य: of (one who is) sinking
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मज्जत् (from धातु मज्ज्)
• Form: masculine/neuter, genitive, singular

• संसारे: in worldly existence; in saṃsāra
• संसारे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: संसार
• Form: masculine, locative, singular

• यावत्: until; as long as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यावत्

• दुःखात्: from suffering; from sorrow
• दुःखात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुःख
• Form: neuter, ablative, singular

• विमुच्यते: is released; is freed
• Type: Verb
• Root: मुच् (वि + मुच्)
• Form: present, third, singular, passive (ātmanepada form)

Speaker

पराशर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Parāśara
• tāta (addressed listener)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Merit (sukṛta) does not necessarily yield immediate visible results; it can remain steady and latent, and when the time is ripe it becomes the sustaining force that helps a person overwhelmed by worldly existence move toward release from suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

Parāśara is instructing an addressed listener (“tāta”), explaining how the fruits of past virtuous actions can persist like an immovable support and eventually aid one who is drowning in saṃsāra to become free from duḥkha.