Shloka 6
नारद–असित (देवल) संवादः — भूतप्रभवाप्यय, इन्द्रिय-गुण-विवेक, क्षेत्रज्ञ-तत्त्व
युधिष्ठि!! इस विषयमें जानकार लोग महर्षि कपिल और गौके भीतर आविष्ट हुए स्यूमरश्मिके संवादरूप एक प्राचीन इतिहासका उदाहरण दिया करते हैं, उसे सुनो ।।
Yudhiṣṭhira! Asmin viṣaye jñāninaḥ janāḥ maharṣi-kapilasya ca gāvaḥ-antar-āviṣṭasya syūmarasmika-saṃvāda-rūpaṃ prācīnam itihāsa-dṛṣṭāntam udāharanti; taṃ śṛṇu. Āmnāyam anupaśyan hi purāṇaṃ śāśvataṃ dhruvam, Nahuṣaḥ pūrvam ālebhe Tvaṣṭuḥ gām iti naḥ śrutam.
“Yudhiṣṭhira, on this matter the learned cite an ancient precedent: a traditional tale cast as a dialogue between the sage Kapila and Syūmarasmika, who had entered into a cow—listen to it. For, keeping in view the Vedic tradition as ancient, eternal, and unshakable, we have heard that in former times King Nahuṣa resolved to slaughter a cow for the sake of the guest Tvaṣṭṛ who had come to his house.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma frames an ethical dilemma—how to act rightly when duties appear to conflict—by appealing to an ancient, authoritative precedent. The verse sets up a discussion on dharma where Vedic tradition, guest-honor, and the morality of harming a cow will be weighed through a remembered dialogue.
Bhīṣma tells Yudhiṣṭhira to listen to an old example: a dialogue involving Kapila and Syūmarasmika (who is said to have entered a cow). He then introduces the incident that King Nahuṣa, treating Vedic injunction as eternal authority, intended to slaughter a cow to honor the guest Tvaṣṭṛ.