Shloka 22

Bhīṣma’s Śara-śayyā Stuti to Vāsudeva and Yogic Preparation for Dehotsarga

Body-Relinquishment

Devanagari script

यस्मिन्‌ नित्ये तते तन्‍्तौ दृढे स्रगिव तिष्ठति

Transliteration

yasmin nitye tate tantau dṛḍhe srag iva tiṣṭhati

Translation

毗湿摩说：“在那永恒、伸展而坚固的丝线之上，万有得以安住——如同花鬘系于强韧之绳而不散。”于伦理之旨，此譬喻教人：种种行为与经验之形态，唯有根植于不变而稳固的原则，方能保持贯通一致；若失其基，秩序与意义便将崩塌。

Word by Word

• यस्मिन्: in which
• यस्मिन्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• नित्ये: in the eternal (one/thing)
• नित्ये: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नित्य
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• तते: in the stretched/spread (one/thing)
• तते: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तत
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• तन्तौ: in the thread
• तन्तौ: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: तन्तु
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• दृढे: in the firm/strong (one/thing)
• दृढे: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दृढ
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• स्रग्: garland
• स्रग्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्रज्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

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

• तिष्ठति: stands/remains
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्था
• Form: Present (Lat), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• thread (tantu)
• garland (srag)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Just as a garland depends on a firm thread to hold its many flowers together, ethical life and the multiplicity of duties remain integrated only when anchored in a stable, enduring principle (nitya).

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma continues his instruction, using a compact simile—garland on a thread—to illustrate how diverse elements depend on an underlying support that is steady and enduring.