Shloka 43

कपिलगोसंवादे गृहस्थ-त्यागधर्मयोः प्रमाण्यविचारः

Kapila–Cow Dialogue: Authority of Householder and Renunciant Dharmas

Devanagari script

वाराणस्यां महाप्राज्ञस्तुलाधार: प्रतिष्ठित: । सोअप्येवं नाते वक्तुं यथा त्वं भाषसे द्विज

Transliteration

Vārāṇasyāṃ mahāprājñas tulādhāraḥ pratiṣṭhitaḥ | so 'py evaṃ nāta vaktuṃ yathā tvaṃ bhāṣase dvija ||

Translation

Bhishma said: “In Varanasi there resides a supremely wise man named Tulādhāra, firmly established in dharma. Even he would not speak in the manner you are speaking, O twice-born.” (Thus a heavenly voice admonishes Jājali: his claim to dharma is corrected by pointing him toward a truly grounded exemplar—Tulādhāra—whose wisdom is marked by restraint and humility rather than self-assertion.)

Word by Word

• {'Vārāṇasyām': 'in Vārāṇasī (Benares/Kāśī), locative singular', 'mahāprājñaḥ': 'greatly wise, profoundly discerning', 'tulādhāraḥ': 'Tulādhāra (proper name

• also literally ‘holder of the balance/scale’, suggesting a merchant/weigher)', 'pratiṣṭhitaḥ': 'established, firmly situated (in a place or in dharma)', 'saḥ api': 'even he', 'evaṃ': 'thus, in this way', 'na': 'not', 'ata': 'indeed/at all (emphatic particle

• in context strengthening the negation)', 'vaktum': 'to speak', 'yathā': 'as, in the way that', 'tvam': 'you', 'bhāṣase': 'you speak', 'dvija': 'O twice-born (address to a brāhmaṇa)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Tulādhāra
• Jājali
• Vārāṇasī (Kāśī)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True dharma is shown through grounded wisdom and restraint in speech, not through proud or exaggerated claims. The verse undercuts self-assured moral posturing by pointing to a genuinely wise exemplar who would not speak arrogantly.

What is happening in the narrative?

A heavenly voice addresses Jājali, telling him that in Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) lives the great sage-like merchant Tulādhāra, and that even Tulādhāra would not speak as Jājali is speaking—thereby directing Jājali toward correction and further instruction.