Shloka 3

Nāradasya Rājadharma-praśnāḥ

Nārada’s Examination of Royal Ethics

Devanagari script

न्यायविद्‌ धर्मतत्त्वज्ञ: षडज्भविदनुत्तम: । ऐक्यसंयोगनानात्वसमवायविशारद:

Transliteration

nyāyavid dharmatattvajñaḥ ṣaḍjñavid anuttamaḥ | aikyasaṃyoganānātvasamavāyaviśāradaḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: He was a master of jurisprudence and a knower of the true principles of dharma—unsurpassed in understanding the sixfold categories of knowledge—and highly skilled in discerning unity and conjunction, diversity, and inherence (the relations by which things are connected).

Word by Word

• न्यायविद्: knower of justice/logic
• न्यायविद्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: न्यायविद् (न्याय + विद्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• धर्मतत्त्वज्ञः: knower of the true principles of dharma
• धर्मतत्त्वज्ञः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: धर्मतत्त्वज्ञ (धर्मतत्त्व + ज्ञ)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• षड्जभविद्: knower of the ṣaḍja etc. (musical notes/tones)
• षड्जभविद्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: षड्जभविद् (षड्जभ + विद्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अनुत्तमः: unsurpassed, excellent
• अनुत्तमः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनुत्तम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• ऐक्यसंयोगनानात्वसमवायविशारदः: skilled in (the categories of) unity, conjunction, plurality, and inherence
• ऐक्यसंयोगनानात्वसमवायविशारदः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ऐक्यसंयोगनानात्वसमवायविशारद (ऐक्य + संयोग + नानात्व + समवाय + विशारद)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse praises an ideal counselor/judge: one who unites ethical insight (dharma-tattva) with rigorous analysis (nyāya) and a refined grasp of relations such as unity, difference, conjunction, and inherence—suggesting that sound governance depends on both moral clarity and precise reasoning.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana is describing a distinguished figure by listing his intellectual and ethical qualifications—portraying him as exceptionally learned in dharma and logical-philosophical categories, fit to advise or adjudicate in the royal assembly context of the Sabha Parva.