Shloka 16

Śvetadvīpa-varṇana and Śāstra-pravartana (Śānti Parva 322)

Devanagari script

यथा धेनुसहस्रेषु वत्सो विन्दति मातरम्‌ | तथा पूर्वकृतं कर्म कर्तारमनुगच्छति

Transliteration

yathā dhenusahasreṣu vatso vindati mātaram | tathā pūrvakṛtaṃ karma kartāram anugacchati ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：正如小牛纵在千牛之中，亦能识得其母而寻至其前；同样，往昔所作之业必定追随其作者，终将抵达于他。

Word by Word

• यथा: just as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• धेनु-सहस्रेषु: among (in) thousands of cows
• धेनु-सहस्रेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: धेनु-सहस्र
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Plural

• वत्सः: the calf
• वत्सः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वत्स
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• विन्दति: finds
• Type: Verb
• Root: विद्
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• मातरम्: mother
• मातरम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मातृ
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• तथा: so, in the same way
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• पूर्व-कृतम्: previously done
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पूर्व-कृत
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• कर्म: deed, action (karma)
• कर्म: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्मन्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• कर्तारम्: the doer
• कर्तारम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्तृ
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अनुगच्छति: follows, reaches
• Type: Verb
• Root: अनु-गम्
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• calf (vatsa)
• cows (dhenu)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That karma is inescapable: actions, along with their moral consequences, inevitably return to and ‘find’ the very person who performed them, just as a calf unfailingly finds its own mother even in a large herd.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and right conduct, Bhishma is teaching Yudhishthira through a vivid simile, emphasizing that past deeds inevitably pursue their agent and bear fruit.