Shloka 47

एकान्तिधर्म-प्रश्नः (Inquiry into Ekāntin Dharma) / The Origin and Practice of Single-Pointed Nārāyaṇa-Centered Discipline

Devanagari script

युष्मत्कृतमिदं शास्त्र प्रजापालो वसुस्तत: । बृहस्पतिसकाशाद्‌ वै प्राप्स्यते द्विजसत्तमा:,द्विजश्रेष्ठगण! स्वायम्भुव मनुके धर्मशास्त्र, शुक्राचार्यके शास्त्र तथा बृहस्पतिके मतका जब लोकमें प्रचार हो जायगा, तब प्रजापालक वसु (राजा उपरिचर) बृहस्पतिजीसे तुम्हारे बनाये हुए इस शास्त्रका अध्ययन करेगा

Transliteration

yuṣmatkṛtam idaṃ śāstraṃ prajā-pālo vasus tataḥ | bṛhaspati-sakāśād vai prāpsyate dvija-sattamāḥ ||

Translation

قال بهيشما: «هذا المصنَّف الذي ألّفتموه سيناله بعد ذلك فاسو—حامي الشعب—من بريهاسبتي. يا خيرة ذوي الميلادين، وهكذا سيدخل في سِلْسلة التعليم المعتمد للملوك، مُرسِّخًا المُلك على الدارما عبر تناقل العلماء.»

Word by Word

• {'yuṣmat-kṛtam': 'made/composed by you (plural honorific)', 'idam': 'this', 'śāstram': 'treatise

• normative text', 'prajā-pālaḥ': 'protector of subjects

• ruler/king charged with welfare', 'vasuḥ': 'Vasu (a proper name

• here a king associated with righteous rule)', 'tataḥ': 'then

• from that point', 'bṛhaspati-sakāśāt': 'from the presence/side of Bṛhaspati

• from Bṛhaspati', 'vai': 'indeed

• emphatic particle', 'prāpsyate': 'will obtain

• will come to acquire', 'dvija-sattamāḥ': 'O best among the twice-born (address to eminent brāhmaṇas)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Vasu
• Bṛhaspati
• dvija-sattamāḥ (eminent brāhmaṇas)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That righteous governance (rājadharma) depends on śāstra received through a legitimate lineage of teachers; a king should learn and rule by dharma as transmitted by authoritative sages.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma describes how a śāstra composed by learned brāhmaṇas will later be obtained by King Vasu from Bṛhaspati, indicating the spread and authoritative adoption of the teaching for the guidance of rulers.