Shloka 52
वल्गुजड्घश्न भगवान् गालवश्व महानृषि: । ऋषिर्वज़्स्तथा ख्यात: सालंकायन एव च
valgujaḍghaśna bhagavān gālavaśva mahānṛṣiḥ | ṛṣir vajraḥ tathā khyātaḥ sālaṅkāyana eva ca ||
Bhīṣma said: “There was the venerable sage Valgujaḍghaśna, and the great Ṛṣi named Gālavaśva. Another sage was famed by the name Vajra, and likewise (there was) Sālaṅkāyana as well.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the authority of dharma as preserved through remembered sages: ethical and ritual norms are validated by the testimony and lineage of revered ṛṣis, whose names are invoked as exemplars and sources of tradition.
Bhīṣma is listing notable sages—Valgujaḍghaśna, Gālavaśva, Vajra, and Sālaṅkāyana—within a broader discourse in the Anuśāsana Parva, where he supports his instruction by citing respected ṛṣi authorities.