Shloka 63

Varṇa-dharma and Rājadharma: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Normative Outline (वर्णधर्म-राजधर्म-प्रश्नोत्तरम्)

Devanagari script

चैत्यद्रुमावमर्दश्व॒ रोध: कर्मानुशासनम्‌ | अपस्करो5थ वसनं तथोपायाश्ष वर्णिता:

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | caityadrumāvamardaś ca rodhaḥ karmānuśāsanam | apaskaro 'tha vasanaṃ tathopāyāś ca varṇitāḥ ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：在那部论典中，也叙述了治国与用兵之策——例如摧毁敌国都城中的圣树（制多树，caitya-trees），围困并封锁其居所与城邑，以及其他权谋之计——并且教导农耕与工艺等生业之事，战车诸部件的制作，村落与城镇安居立业的正当方式，以及维持生计的种种实用法门。

Word by Word

• चैत्यद्रुम: sacred tree
• चैत्यद्रुम: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: चैत्यद्रुम
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अवमर्द: crushing; destruction
• अवमर्द: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अवमर्द
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• रोधः: blockade; siege; obstruction
• रोधः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: रोध
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• कर्म: action; work
• कर्म: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्मन्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• अनुशासनम्: instruction; teaching
• अनुशासनम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अनुशासन
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• अपस्करः: equipment; implements; furnishings
• अपस्करः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अपस्कर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अथ: then; also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ

• वसनम्: dwelling; residence
• वसनम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वसन
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• तथा: likewise; also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• उपायाः: means; measures; strategies
• उपायाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: उपाय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• वर्णिताः: described
• Type: Verb
• Root: वर्णित
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural, Passive (PPP)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• enemy capital (śatruki rājadhānī, implied by the prose gloss)
• caitya-trees (sacred trees)
• chariot (ratha, implied by the prose gloss)
• village (grāma, implied by the prose gloss)
• town/city (nagara, implied by the prose gloss)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma highlights that governance and worldly success rely on disciplined instruction in practical arts: strategic measures (upāya) in conflict, economic productivity (agriculture and crafts), and technical knowledge (like chariot construction). The verse situates such skills within an ordered body of teaching, implying that effective rule requires trained competence, not impulse.

What is happening in the narrative?

Within Bhishma’s extended instruction in the Shanti Parva, he is summarizing what a certain authoritative teaching/text contains: methods for weakening an enemy (including siege and symbolic targets like sacred trees), guidance on occupations and crafts, and practical rules for settlement and sustaining life.