Shloka 8

Devanagari script

यदयं परमो धर्मो यन्मां पृच्छसि भारत । आसीदू धीरो हानाकाडक्षी धर्मार्थकरणे नूप

Transliteration

yad ayaṃ paramo dharmo yan māṃ pṛcchasi bhārata | āsīd dhīro hānākāḍakṣī dharmārthakaraṇe nūpa

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“噢，婆罗多啊！你所问我的那至上之法——往昔曾有一位坚毅而目光明澈的君王，专心致力于求取并践行达摩与阿尔塔。”

Word by Word

yatwhich/that (thing)

ayamthis

paramaḥsupreme

dharmaḥdharma, duty

yatwhich/that (thing)

māmme

pṛcchasiyou ask

bhārataO Bhārata

āsītwas

dhīraḥa steadfast/wise (man)

hānaabandonment, loss

ākāḍakṣī(unclear/possibly corrupt reading)

dharma-artha-karaṇein the undertaking of dharma and artha

nūpa(unclear/possibly corrupt reading; maybe a vocative)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Bhārata (Yudhiṣṭhira)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma frames the discussion as an inquiry into “parama dharma” (the highest ethical duty) and signals that the answer will be illustrated through the example of an ideal ruler who actively practiced dharma together with artha—showing that moral duty and public welfare must be integrated in governance.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira (addressed as Bhārata) asks Bhīṣma about the highest dharma. Bhīṣma begins his reply by introducing a past exemplar—an unwavering king—setting up a didactic story or precedent to explain the principle.