Shloka 66
बक-गौतमाख्यानम् / The Baka–Gautama Account
On Gratitude and Friendship Ethics
विष्णुर्मरीचये प्रादान्मरीचिर्भगवानपि
viṣṇur marīcaye prādān marīcir bhagavān api
Bhīṣma said: “Viṣṇu bestowed (this) upon Marīci; and Marīci too, the venerable sage, in turn (passed it on). The line underscores the ethical authority of a teaching by tracing it through a revered lineage of transmission.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
That dharma and sacred knowledge gain weight and reliability when shown to descend through an honored lineage (paramparā)—from a supreme divine source (Viṣṇu) to an ancient seer (Marīci) and onward—signaling continuity, authenticity, and responsibility in transmission.
Bhīṣma is recounting a chain of transmission: Viṣṇu imparted a teaching (or principle) to the sage Marīci, and Marīci, himself revered, then passed it forward. The verse functions as a link in a longer genealogy of instruction within Śānti Parva’s discourse on dharma.