Shloka 8

Devanagari script

त्यक्ताहारेण भवता वने निवसता त्वया । बालवृद्धमिदं सर्व पीड्यते धर्मसंकटात्‌

Transliteration

tyaktāhāreṇa bhavatā vane nivasatā tvayā | bāla-vṛddham idaṃ sarvaṃ pīḍyate dharma-saṅkaṭāt ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“你住在这片森林里又断绝饮食，使我们陷入了法（Dharma）的危局。从孩童到老者，我们众人都深受煎熬，因为此事阻碍了正当与应行之道。”

Word by Word

• त्यक्ताहारेण: by (your) having abandoned food / by fasting
• त्यक्ताहारेण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्यक्त-आहार
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• भवता: by you (honorific)
• भवता: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: भवत्
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• वने: in the forest
• वने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वन
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• निवसता: by (you) dwelling
• निवसता: Karana
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि-√वस्
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• त्वया: by you
• त्वया: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• बालवृद्धम्: children-and-old (i.e., all ages)
• बालवृद्धम्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बाल-वृद्ध
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• इदम्: this
• इदम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• सर्वम्: all
• सर्वम्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• पीड्यते: is afflicted / is pained
• पीड्यते: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: √पीड्
• Form: Present, Passive, Third, Singular

• धर्मसंकटात्: from the crisis of dharma / moral dilemma
• धर्मसंकटात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म-संकट
• Form: Neuter, Ablative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• forest (vana)
• children (bāla)
• elderly (vṛddha)
• dharma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Personal austerity (such as fasting) is not automatically virtuous if it creates a dharma-saṅkaṭa—an ethical impasse that harms or burdens others. Right conduct must be weighed against its social and moral consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma addresses someone living in the forest who has renounced food. He argues that this act has become a source of collective distress, affecting everyone from children to elders, because it obstructs proper dharma and creates a moral dilemma for the community.