Shloka 3
अध्याय ३३७ — ज्ञानमार्ग-वैविध्यप्रश्नः तथा व्यासस्य नारायणोद्भवकथा
Systems of Knowledge and Vyāsa’s Nārāyaṇa-Origin
राजन! बृहत, ब्रह्म और महत--ये तीनों शब्द एक अर्थके वाचक हैं। इन तीनों शब्दोंके गुण देवपुरोहितमें मौजूद थे; इसलिये वे विद्वान देवगुरु “बृहस्पति” कहलाते थे ।।
rājan! bṛhat, brahma ca mahat—ete trayaḥ śabdā ekārthavācakāḥ. eteṣāṃ trayāṇāṃ śabdānāṃ guṇā devapurohite vidyamānā āsan; tasmāt sa vidvān devaguruḥ “bṛhaspati” iti khyātaḥ. tasya śiṣyo babhūvāgryo rājoparicaro vasuḥ. adhītatavān tadā śāstraṃ samyak citraśikhaṇḍijam.
Bhīṣma sprach: „O König, bṛhat, brahman und mahat—diese drei Worte tragen denselben Sinn: ‘das Große’. Diese Eigenschaften waren im göttlichen Priester gegenwärtig; darum wurde jener gelehrte Lehrer der Götter ‘Bṛhaspati’ genannt. Sein vornehmster Schüler war König Vasu, berühmt als Uparicara. Damals hatte Vasu die Lehrschrift namens Citraśikhaṇḍin ordnungsgemäß gemeistert.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage links language and virtue: multiple revered terms (bṛhat, brahma, mahat) converge on the idea of ‘greatness,’ and a teacher’s name (Bṛhaspati) is presented as grounded in the qualities he embodies—implying that true honorifics should reflect inner excellence and learning.
Bhishma explains why the gods’ preceptor is called Bṛhaspati and then introduces Bṛhaspati’s foremost disciple, King Uparicara Vasu, noting that Vasu had thoroughly studied a treatise associated with the name Citraśikhaṇḍin.