Shloka 35

Bhīṣma on the Śara-Śayyā: Yudhiṣṭhira and Kṛṣṇa Approach the Eldest for Śānti

Devanagari script

देशजातिकुलानां च जानीषे धर्मलक्षणम्‌ | वेदोक्तो यश्च शिष्टोक्त: सदैव विदितस्तव,विलोम कमसे उत्पन्न हुए वर्णसंकरोंका जो धर्म है, उससे भी आप अपरिचित नहीं हैं। देश, जाति और कुलके धर्मोंका क्‍या लक्षण है, उसे आप अच्छी तरह जानते हैं। वेदोंमें प्रतिपादित तथा शिष्ट पुरुषोंद्वारा कथित धर्मोकोी भी आप सदासे ही जानते हैं

Transliteration

deśa-jāti-kulānāṃ ca jānīṣe dharma-lakṣaṇam | vedokto yaś ca śiṣṭoktaḥ sadaiva viditas tava ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Du verstehst die kennzeichnenden Merkmale des Dharma, wie er nach Land, Gemeinschaft und Geschlecht gilt, sehr genau. Und der Dharma, wie ihn die Veden lehren, ebenso wie der von gebildeten und gelehrten Ältesten bekräftigte, ist dir seit Langem vertraut.“

Word by Word

• {'deśa': 'region, country

• local area with its customs', 'jāti': 'birth-group/community

• social category', 'kula': 'family, lineage, clan', 'dharma': 'duty, law, righteous conduct

• sustaining order', 'lakṣaṇa': 'mark, characteristic, defining feature', 'jānīṣe': 'you know, you understand (2nd person singular, present)', 'veda-ukta': 'stated in the Veda

• scripturally enjoined', 'śiṣṭa-ukta': 'spoken by the śiṣṭas—cultured, exemplary authorities

• traditional learned consensus', 'sadaiva': 'always, at all times', 'vidita': 'known, understood', 'tava': 'to you/your'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Veda
• śiṣṭa (learned/exemplary elders)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma is recognized through multiple authoritative lenses: local practice (deśa), community norms (jāti), family/lineage traditions (kula), and overarching standards grounded in the Veda and affirmed by respected learned elders (śiṣṭas).

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana addresses a listener as someone already well-versed in dharma—both in its contextual forms (regional, communal, familial) and in its higher authorities (Vedic injunction and the guidance of exemplary tradition-bearers).