Shloka 23

मातङ्ग–शक्रसंवादः

Mataṅga–Śakra Dialogue on Tapas, Status, and Moral Qualities

Devanagari script

तौ समेत्य महात्मानौ सुखासीनौ कथा: शुभा: । चक्रतुर्वेदसम्बद्धास्तच्छेषकृतलक्षणा:,वे दोनों महात्मा एक-दूसरेसे मिलकर सुखपूर्वक बैठे तथा वेदोंसे सम्बद्ध और वेदान्तसे उपलक्षित शुभ चर्चाएँ करने लगे

Transliteration

tau sametya mahātmānau sukhāsīnau kathāḥ śubhāḥ | cakratur vedasambaddhās taccheṣakṛtalakṣaṇāḥ ||

Translation

Those two great-souled men met together and, seated at ease, began to engage in auspicious conversations—discourses grounded in the Vedas and marked by the concluding purport of Vedānta.

Word by Word

तौthose two

समेत्यhaving met / coming together

महात्मानौtwo great-souled ones

सुखासीनौseated comfortably

कथाःtalks / discussions

शुभाःauspicious

चक्रतुःthey two did / they undertook

वेदसम्बद्धाःconnected with the Vedas

तत्by that / with that

शेषकृतलक्षणाःmarked by what remains (i.e., by Vedānta/Upaniṣadic purport)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

भ

भीष्म (Bhīṣma) as speaker

two unnamed mahātmās (tau mahātmānau)

Veda

Vedānta (implied by taccheṣa as the concluding purport)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Wholesome dialogue among the wise should be rooted in śruti (the Vedas) and oriented toward the final purport—Vedānta—so that discussion becomes a means of ethical clarity and insight into ultimate meaning, not mere debate.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma describes two noble persons meeting, sitting comfortably together, and beginning auspicious discussions that are explicitly Veda-based and characterized by the concluding, Vedānta-oriented intent of the Vedic teaching.