Shloka 157

Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)

Devanagari script

सप्ताडस्यास्य राज्यस्य त्रिदण्ड्यस्येव तिष्ठतः । अन्योन्यगुणयुक्तस्य कः केन गुणतोडघधिक:

Transliteration

saptāṅgasyāsya rājyasya tridaṇḍyasyeva tiṣṭhataḥ | anyonyaguṇayuktasya kaḥ kena guṇato 'dhikaḥ ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“此国由七支构成，握在你手中，宛如执持三杖。二者——你这七支之政体与我这三重之杖——皆具相互辉映的卓越德性。故请告我：孰优孰劣？又以何德而胜？”

Word by Word

• सप्ताङ्गस्य: of the seven-limbed (having seven constituents)
• सप्ताङ्गस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सप्ताङ्ग
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• अस्य: of this
• अस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• राज्यस्य: of the kingdom/state
• राज्यस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: राज्य
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• त्रिदण्ड्यस्य: of the bearer of the triple staff (tridaṇḍin)
• त्रिदण्ड्यस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्रिदण्डिन्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

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

• तिष्ठतः: standing; remaining
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्था
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• अन्योन्यगुणयुक्तस्य: of that which is endowed with each other’s qualities / mutually qualified
• अन्योन्यगुणयुक्तस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्योन्य-गुण-युक्त
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• कः: who/which (one)?
• कः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: किम्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• केन: by which? because of what?
• केन: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: किम्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• गुणतः: in respect of quality; because of a quality
• गुणतः: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुण
• Form: Masculine, Ablative, Singular

• अधिकः: superior; greater
• अधिकः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अधिक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• rājya (the kingdom/state)
• saptāṅga (seven limbs of the state)
• tridaṇḍa (triple staff)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma frames governance as an ethical system: a kingdom is sustained by interdependent limbs (the saptāṅga model), and its excellence must be judged by virtues rather than mere power. He also links political authority with disciplined restraint symbolized by the tridaṇḍa.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on rājadharma, Bhīṣma addresses the king (Yudhiṣṭhira) and compares the seven-limbed state in the king’s hand to a triple staff in his own, inviting a discussion on comparative excellence and the virtues that make a polity superior.