Shloka 12
Vyaktāvyakta-Viveka and Nivṛtti as Paramā Gati
Manifest–Unmanifest Discrimination and the Supreme Path of Withdrawal
वैश्यो वैश्यैस्तथा श्राव्य: शूद्र: शूद्रैमहामना: । माहात्म्यं देवदेवस्य विष्णोरमिततेजस:,वही ब्रह्म वृष्णिकुलमें श्रीकृष्णरूपमें अवतीर्ण हुआ, इस कथाको तुम मुझसे सुनो। ब्राह्मण ब्राह्मणको, क्षत्रिय क्षत्रियको, वैश्य वैश्यको तथा शूद्र महामनस्वी शूद्रको, अमित तेजस्वी देवाधिदेव विष्णुका माहात्म्य सुनावे
vaiśyo vaiśyais tathā śrāvyaḥ śūdraḥ śūdrair mahāmanāḥ | māhātmyaṃ devadevasya viṣṇor amitatejasaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “A Vaiśya should be instructed by Vaiśyas, and a Śūdra of noble mind by Śūdras. Thus should the greatness of Viṣṇu—the God of gods, of immeasurable splendor—be recounted.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the transmission of religious instruction—specifically the recitation of Viṣṇu’s māhātmya (glory)—should follow socially appropriate channels (within one’s varṇa/community), reflecting the Mahābhārata’s concern for maintaining dharma as ordered conduct while promoting devotion to the supreme deity.
Bhīṣma, in his extended instruction during the Śānti Parva, lays down a rule about who should teach whom, and frames it around the telling of Viṣṇu’s greatness. It functions as a prescriptive guideline within his broader discourse on righteous conduct and religious practice.