Shloka 73
Garuḍa’s Assault on the Devas and the Fire-Barrier (अमृत-रक्षा-युद्धम्)
भूतानामग्रभूविंप्रो वर्णश्रेष्ठ: पिता गुरु: । ब्राह्मणोंके साथ किसी प्रकार द्रोह नहीं करना चाहिये। अनघ! कठोर व्रतका पालन करनेवाला ब्राह्मण क्रोधमें आनेपर अपराधीको जिस प्रकार जलाकर भस्म कर देता है, उस तरह अग्नि और सूर्य भी नहीं जला सकते। इस प्रकार विविध चिह्लोंके द्वारा तुम्हें ब्राह्मणको पहचान लेना चाहिये। ब्राह्मण समस्त प्राणियोंका अग्रज, सब वर्णोमें श्रेष्ठ पिता और गुरु है
bhūtānām agrabhūviṁ pro varṇaśreṣṭhaḥ pitā guruḥ | brāhmaṇena saha kathaṁcid droho na kartavyaḥ | anagha! kaṭhoravratapālako brāhmaṇaḥ krodham āpannaḥ aparādhinaṁ yathā dagdhvā bhasmasāt karoti, tathāgnir ādityo vā na śaknutaḥ | evaṁ vividha-cihnaiḥ brāhmaṇaṁ vijānīyāḥ | brāhmaṇaḥ sarvaprāṇinām agrajaḥ, sarvavarṇeṣu śreṣṭhaḥ, pitā guruś ca |
Pitāmaha said: “The Brāhmaṇa stands foremost among beings—best among the varṇas, a father and a teacher. Therefore one should never, in any manner, commit hostility against a Brāhmaṇa. O sinless one, when a Brāhmaṇa who observes severe vows is provoked to anger, he can burn an offender to ashes—something even fire and the sun cannot accomplish in that way. By such distinguishing marks you should recognize the Brāhmaṇa. He is the elder of all creatures, the best among all classes, and a father and guru.”
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches dharmic restraint and reverence: one should not commit droha (hostility) toward a Brāhmaṇa, who is portrayed as a societal and spiritual elder (father and guru) and as possessing formidable power through tapas and vow-observance.
Pitāmaha is instructing the listener on how to recognize and properly treat a Brāhmaṇa, emphasizing both the ethical duty of non-hostility and the grave consequences of provoking a vow-observing Brāhmaṇa to anger.