Shloka 88
Puṣkara-Śapatha Itihāsa (Agastya–Indra Dispute at the Tīrthas) | पुष्कर-शपथ-आख्यानम्
भरद्वाज उवाच भरे5सुतान् भरेडशिष्यान् भरे देवान् भरे द्विजान् । भरे भार्या भरे द्वाजं भरद्वाजोडस्मि शोभने
bharadvāja uvāca | bhare sutān bhare śiṣyān bhare devān bhare dvijān | bhare bhāryāṃ bhare dvājān bharadvājo 'smi śobhane ||
قال بهارادفاجا: «أيتها الحسناء، أنا أعول أبنائي؛ وأعول تلاميذي؛ وأعول الآلهة (بما يُؤدَّى لهم من القرابين الواجبة)؛ وأعول ذوي الميلادين (بالعطاء المستقيم). وأعول زوجتي، وأعول كذلك من يُسمَّون “دفاجا” (ذوي الأصل المختلط). فلذلك، يا بهية، أُعرَف باسم بهارادفاجا.»
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames dharma as active support: a righteous person sustains not only one’s own family and students but also the wider sacred and social order—gods through offerings, the twice-born through proper giving, and even socially marginal or mixed-origin people—showing inclusive responsibility rather than narrow self-interest.
Bharadvāja speaks to a woman addressed as “śobhane,” explaining why he is called Bharadvāja: he ‘bears’ (bhare) the burden of maintaining many—sons, disciples, gods, Brahmins, his wife, and others—using a wordplay/etymology to present his identity as grounded in sustained duty.