Shloka 40

Āśrama-dharma: Duties of the Four Life-Stages (आश्रमधर्मः)

Devanagari script

यतो हि सर्ववर्णानां यज्ञस्तस्यैव भारत । अग्रे सर्वेषु यज्ञेषु श्रद्धायज्ञो विधीयते

Transliteration

yato hi sarvavarṇānāṁ yajñas tasyaiva bhārata | agre sarveṣu yajñeṣu śraddhāyajño vidhīyate ||

Translation

毗湿摩说：“婆罗多啊，一切种姓的祭祀之责，归根到底都系于同一原则——服务与扶持之道。因此，在诸祭之中，首先所规定的是‘以信为祭’。由于上三阶层所行诸祭，赖首陀罗之役使劳作而得以维持，其功德亦及于他；故他不必另立一套独立的祭仪。凡一切祭祀，信心皆为最先之供献。”

Word by Word

• {'yato hi': 'for, because

• since indeed', 'sarva-varṇānām': 'of all varṇas (social orders)', 'yajñaḥ': 'sacrifice

• also any consecrated duty/offering', 'tasya eva': 'belongs to him/that alone

• is indeed his/that very one’s', 'bhārata': 'O Bharata (address to Yudhiṣṭhira, descendant of Bharata)', 'agre': 'first

• foremost', 'sarveṣu yajñeṣu': 'in all sacrifices', 'śraddhā-yajñaḥ': 'the ‘sacrifice of faith’

• faith as the primary inner offering', 'vidhīyate': 'is prescribed

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Bharata (Yudhishthira)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Faith (śraddhā) is the indispensable first element of any yajña: without inner trust and sincerity, outer ritual loses its ethical and spiritual force. Bhishma also frames sacrifice as a shared social enterprise—since the rites of the higher varṇas depend on the supporting service of others, the resulting merit is not isolated but participates in a wider moral economy.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma addresses Yudhiṣṭhira (“O Bharata”) and explains principles of sacrificial duty and social interdependence. He emphasizes that śraddhā is prescribed foremost among sacrifices and that the supportive role of the Śūdra connects him to the fruits of yajña, reducing the need for separate ritual obligation.