Shloka 38
अहिंसां सर्वभूतेषु धर्म ज्यायस्तरं विदु: । तस्य च ब्राह्मणो मूलं भवांश्व ब्रह्मवित्तम:,'प्राणियोंकी हिंसा न करनेको ही सबसे श्रेष्ठ धर्म माना गया है। उसकी जड़ है ब्राह्मण और आप तो जन ब्राह्मणोंमें भी सबसे उत्तम ब्रह्मवेत्ता हैं
sañjaya uvāca |
ahiṃsāṃ sarvabhūteṣu dharmaṃ jyāyastaraṃ viduḥ |
tasya ca brāhmaṇo mūlaṃ bhavāṃś ca brahmavittamaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “Non-violence toward all beings is known as the highest form of dharma. And the very root of that dharma is the Brāhmaṇa; and you, indeed, are the foremost knower of Brahman among Brāhmaṇas.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse elevates ahiṃsā—non-violence toward all beings—as the highest dharma, and links its stable foundation to the Brāhmaṇa ideal: disciplined learning, restraint, and realization of Brahman. Ethical authority is grounded not merely in status but in brahma-jñāna (knowledge of Brahman).
In the midst of the war narrative of Droṇa Parva, Sañjaya addresses a revered listener and frames counsel through a moral lens: even amid battlefield events, the supreme standard of dharma is recalled, and the addressee is honored as a foremost knower of Brahman, fit to uphold and interpret that standard.