Shloka 1
Tapas-śreṣṭhatā: Anāśana as the Highest Austerity
Bhagīratha–Brahmā Saṃvāda
अपन क्रा बछ। सं: त>र्योधिकशततमो< ध्याय: ब्रह्माजी और भगीरथका संवाद
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca—dānaṃ bahuvidhākāraṃ śāntiḥ satyam ahiṃsitām | svadāra-tuṣṭiś ca uktā te phalaṃ dānasya caiva yat | tapobalāt paraṃ kiṃ nu balaṃ bhavati te mate | yadi tapasyā api kiṃcid utkṛṣṭaṃ sādhanam asti, tan me vyākhyātuṃ arhasi ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Grandfather, you have described many forms of giving, along with peace, truthfulness, and non-violence. You have also taught contentment with one’s own wife, and you have explained the fruits of charity. In your judgment, what power is greater than the power born of austerity? And if there is any discipline even superior to austerity, please set it forth clearly before us.”
गौतम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a hierarchy of dharmic practices—charity, peace, truth, non-violence, and marital fidelity—and asks whether austerity (tapas) surpasses them, or whether an even higher discipline exists. It sets up an ethical inquiry into what most powerfully transforms character and leads to spiritual merit.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction section, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Bhīṣma as ‘Grandfather’ and, after hearing teachings on dāna and allied virtues, requests a deeper explanation about the greatest source of strength—tapas—and any practice superior to it.