Shloka 13
देवतापितृप्रश्नः — Nārada at Badarīāśrama: the ultimate referent of daiva and pitṛ worship
उपधार्य मतं तेषां बुधानां धर्मदर्शिनाम् । नियच्छ परया बुद्धया चित्तमुत्पथगामि वै,उन धर्मदर्शी विद्वानोंका मत जानकर तुम अपनी श्रेष्ठ बुद्धिके द्वारा अपने कुपथगामी मनको काबूमें करो
upadhārya mataṁ teṣāṁ budhānāṁ dharmadarśinām | niyaccha parayā buddhyā cittam utpathagāmi vai ||
Nachdem du die wohlbedachte Ansicht jener Weisen, die das Dharma schauen, erfasst hast, zügle—durch dein höchstes Unterscheidungsvermögen—deinen Geist, der wahrlich auf einen Irrweg gerät.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
One should first learn and internalize the guidance of dharma-seeing wise people, and then use one’s highest discernment to restrain a mind that tends to deviate; ethical life depends on mastery of the inner instrument.
Vyāsa is instructing the listener (implicitly an addressee in the Śānti Parva discourse) to heed the counsel of learned, dharma-knowing sages and to bring the wandering mind under control through superior judgment.