Shloka 7

शुकस्य योगसिद्धिः (Śuka’s Yogic Attainment and Ascent)

Devanagari script

न हाहानि निवर्तन्ते न मासा न पुन: क्षपा: | सो<थयं प्रपद्यते5ध्वानं चिराय ध्रुवमध्रुव:

Transliteration

na hāhāni nivartante na māsā na punaḥ kṣapāḥ | so 'thayaṃ prapadyate 'dhvānaṃ cirāya dhruvam adhruvaḥ ||

Translation

毗湿摩说：“白昼不回转，月分不回转，黑夜亦不复返。于是这具身之众生——自身无常而易坏——踏上漫长旅途，走向那固定而必然之处（死亡）。”

Word by Word

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• हाहानि: lamentations/cries of distress
• हाहानि: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: हाहानि
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• निवर्तन्ते: cease/turn back
• Type: Verb
• Root: वृत् (वर्तते)
• Form: Present, Third, Plural, Atmanepada

• न: nor/not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• मासाः: months
• मासाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मास
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• न: nor/not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• पुनः: again
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः

• क्षपाः: nights
• क्षपाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षपा
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• सः: he/that (person)
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अथ: then/thereupon
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ

• अयम्: this (one)
• अयम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• प्रपद्यते: resorts to/enters/sets out upon
• Type: Verb
• Root: पद् (पद्यते) with प्र-
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Atmanepada

• अध्वानम्: path/journey
• अध्वानम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्वन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• चिराय: for a long time/long
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: चिर

• ध्रुवम्: certain/fixed
• ध्रुवम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ध्रुव
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अध्रुवः: uncertain/unstable (one)
• अध्रुवः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अध्रुव
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Time is irreversible: days, months, and nights never return. Therefore one should live with ethical urgency and detachment, recognizing that the perishable person inevitably proceeds toward the certain end (death).

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs on dharma and right conduct after the war. Here he emphasizes the relentless forward movement of time to ground his counsel in sobriety, restraint, and moral seriousness.