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:

Transliteration

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

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: „Diese von euch verfasste Abhandlung wird danach Vasu — der Schützer des Volkes — von Bṛhaspati erhalten. O Beste unter den Zweimalgeborenen, so wird sie in den Strom maßgeblicher Unterweisung für Herrscher eingehen und das Königtum durch gelehrte Überlieferung im Dharma gründen.“

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.