Shloka 4
अश्वशिरो-आख्यानम्
Aśvaśiras / Hayaśiras Narrative: Retrieval of the Vedas
देवतानां च को देव: पितृणां च पिता तथा । तस्मात् परतरं यच्च तनमे ब्रूहि पितामह,देवताओंका भी देवता और पितरोंका भी पिता कौन है? अथवा उससे भी श्रेष्ठ तत्त्व क्या है? पितामह! इन सब बातोंको आप मुझे बताइये
devatānāṃ ca ko devaḥ pitṝṇāṃ ca pitā tathā | tasmāt parataraṃ yac ca tan me brūhi pitāmaha ||
Yudhiṣṭhira fragte: „Wer ist der Gott selbst der Götter und ebenso der Vater der Ahnen? Und welche Wirklichkeit ist noch höher als das? Großvater, bitte sage mir dies alles.“
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a philosophical inquiry central to Śānti Parva: beyond ritual and social duty lies the need to know the supreme source—higher than the gods and the ancestral order—so that dharma is grounded in ultimate truth rather than mere convention.
After the war, Yudhiṣṭhira approaches Bhīṣma (addressed as Pitāmaha) for instruction. Here he asks Bhīṣma to identify the supreme deity/principle—‘the god of the gods’ and ‘father of the ancestors’—and even what may be higher than that, setting up a discourse on ultimate reality and right living.