Shloka 79
बक-गौतमाख्यानम् / The Baka–Gautama Account
On Gratitude and Friendship Ethics
हरिणाश्वादर्सि लेभे शुनक: शुनकादपि । उशीनरो वै धर्मात्मा तस्माद् भोज: स यादव:
hariṇāśvād ṛṣiṃ lebhe śunakaḥ śunakād api | uśīnaro vai dharmātmā tasmād bhojaḥ sa yādavaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: From Hariṇāśva arose the sage Śunaka; and from Śunaka again came one who continued the line. Uśīnara was indeed a king of righteous soul; therefore Bhoja—of the Yādava lineage—is remembered as descending from this virtuous succession.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that dharma is not merely personal but also transmitted and remembered through exemplary ancestral lines; righteous forebears (like Uśīnara) become ethical reference-points for later clans (such as the Bhojas among the Yādavas).
Bhīṣma is recounting a genealogical succession: from Hariṇāśva comes the sage Śunaka; from Śunaka the line continues; Uśīnara is identified as notably righteous; and from that lineage is connected the Bhoja identity within the broader Yādava descent.