Shloka 6

Śuka’s Nirveda: Vyāsa’s Admonition on Dharma, Impermanence, and ‘Imperishable Wealth’ (अक्षय-धन)

Devanagari script

धर्म: सतां हित: पुंसां धर्मश्वैवाश्रय: सताम्‌ | धर्माल्लोकास्त्रयस्तात प्रवृत्ता: सचराचरा:

Transliteration

dharmaḥ satāṃ hitaḥ puṃsāṃ dharmaś caivāśrayaḥ satām | dharmāl lokās trayas tāta pravṛttāḥ sacarācarāḥ ||

Translation

达摩使正直之人得安乐，达摩亦是正直之人的归依。孩子啊，三界——连同一切动与不动的众生——皆由达摩而生，并唯凭达摩而运行不息。

Word by Word

• धर्मः: dharma, righteousness
• धर्मः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• सताम्: of the good (people)
• सताम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सत्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• हितः: beneficial, welfare-causing
• हितः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हित
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पुंसाम्: of men, of people
• पुंसाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुंस्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• धर्मः: dharma
• धर्मः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• एव: indeed, alone
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• आश्रयः: refuge, support
• आश्रयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: आश्रय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• सताम्: of the good
• सताम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सत्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• धर्मात्: from dharma
• धर्मात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म
• Form: Masculine, Ablative, Singular

• लोकाः: worlds
• लोकाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• त्रयः: three
• Type: Adjective
• Root: त्रि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• तात: O dear one / O son
• Type: Noun
• Root: तात
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• प्रवृत्ताः: arisen, come forth, originated
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र√वृत्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural, क्त (past passive participle)

• सचराचराः: with the moving and the unmoving (beings)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स-चर-अचर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• tāta (address to the listener, traditionally Yudhiṣṭhira)
• the three worlds (trailokya)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma is both the welfare of the virtuous and their refuge; it is also the sustaining principle by which the entire cosmos—moving and unmoving—arises and functions.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction section, Bhishma teaches the listener (addressed as 'tāta', typically Yudhiṣṭhira) about the foundational importance of dharma for personal conduct and for the order of the worlds.