Shloka 6
Pañcahotṛ-Vidhāna and the Dispute of the Five Vāyus (पञ्चहोतृविधानम् — पञ्चवायूनां श्रेष्ठत्वविवादः)
तेडपृच्छन्त पुरा सन्त: पूर्वजातं पितामहम् | यो नः श्रेष्ठस्तमाचक्ष्व स न: श्रेष्ठो भविष्यति
teḍ apṛcchanta purā santaḥ pūrvajātaṃ pitāmaham | yo naḥ śreṣṭhas tam ācakṣva sa naḥ śreṣṭho bhaviṣyati |
قديماً سأل أولئك الأخيارُ الجدَّ الأول، السلفَ المولودَ قبل الجميع: «أخبرنا أيُّنا هو الأفضل؛ فمن يُعلَن أفضلَنا سيكون قائدَنا.» وتُؤطِّر الآيةُ سؤالاً أخلاقياً عن الأسبقية المستحقة: فالسلطان ينبغي أن يقوم على التفوّق الحق، لا على مجرّد الادّعاء.
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Leadership and precedence should be grounded in genuine excellence (śreṣṭhatva) as discerned through wise judgment, not asserted by rivalry; the verse models ethical inquiry—seeking an authoritative, principled criterion for who should be foremost.
A group of ‘noble ones’ approaches the primordial Grandsire (pitāmaha, i.e., Brahmā) and asks him to identify which among them is the best; the one so identified will be accepted as the leader.