Shloka 1
Brāhmaṇa-pūjā and Namaskāra: Criteria of Reverence and Non-Offense (ब्राह्मणपूजा-नमस्कारविधिः)
अपना बा | अप्--का+ एकत्रिशर्दाधेकशततमो< ध्याय: प्रमथगणोंके द्वारा धर्माधर्मसम्बन्धी रहस्यका कथन भीष्म उवाच ततः सर्वे महाभागा देवाश्न पितरश्न ह । ऋषयश्च महाभागा: प्रमथान् वाक्यमत्रुवन्,भीष्मजी कहते हैं--राजन्! तदनन्तर सभी महाभाग देवता, पितर तथा महान् भाग्यशाली महर्षि प्रमथगणोंसे बोले--
Bhīṣma uvāca: tataḥ sarve mahābhāgā devāś ca pitaraś ca ha | ṛṣayaś ca mahābhāgāḥ pramathān vākyam abruvan ||
Bhishma said: “O King, thereafter all those illustrious ones—the gods, the ancestral Fathers, and the highly fortunate sages—addressed the Pramathas with their words.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse sets the stage for an authoritative teaching on the subtle distinctions of dharma and adharma by showing that gods, Pitṛs, and sages collectively engage the Pramathas—implying that the forthcoming instruction concerns deep moral-religious principles recognized across cosmic and ancestral orders.
Bhīṣma, instructing the king, narrates that after a preceding event, the assembled gods, ancestral Fathers, and sages turn to the Pramathas and begin addressing them, introducing the next section of discourse.