Shloka 26
Mahāvasu’s Fall by Speech-Error and Release through Devotion (अज-विवादः वसोः शापः विमोचनं च)
प्रभो! महामुनि शुकदेवने उनसे रहस्य और संग्रहसहित सम्पूर्ण वेदोंका, समूचे इतिहासका तथा राजशास्त्रका भी अध्ययन करके गुरुको दक्षिणा दे समावर्तन-संस्कारके पश्चात् घरको प्रस्थान किया ।।
bhīṣma uvāca | prabho! mahāmuniḥ śukadevaḥ tebhyaḥ rahasya-saha saṅgraha-sahitaṃ sampūrṇa-vedān, samūcam itihāsaṃ ca rājaśāstraṃ ca adhītya gurave dakṣiṇāṃ dattvā samāvartana-saṃskārānantarā gṛhaṃ prati prasthitaḥ || ugraṃ tapaḥ samārebhe brahmacārī samāhitaḥ | devatānām ṛṣīṇāṃ ca bālye 'pi sa mahātapāḥ | sammantraṇīyo mānyaś ca jñānena tapasā tathā ||
Bhishma said: “O Lord, the great sage Śukadeva, having studied from his teachers the entire Veda—together with its esoteric purport and systematic compendium—along with the whole body of Itihāsa and the science of kingship, paid his teacher’s fee and, after the formal rite of graduation, set out for home. Then, living as a disciplined brahmacārin with a collected mind, he undertook severe austerities. Though still in childhood, that great ascetic became worthy of reverence even to gods and seers—fit to be consulted and to offer counsel—by the power of his knowledge and his tapas.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
True authority arises from disciplined learning and lived austerity: completing study with humility (honoring the guru and the graduation rite) and then practicing concentrated tapas makes one worthy of respect and capable of guiding others—even beyond one’s age.
Bhīṣma recounts Śukadeva’s formation: he finishes comprehensive scriptural and practical studies (Veda, Itihāsa, and rājaśāstra), pays the teacher’s fee, completes samāvartana, and then begins intense ascetic practice as a focused brahmacārin, becoming revered and consultable by gods and sages even in childhood.