Shloka 53

एकान्तिधर्म-प्रश्नः (Inquiry into Ekāntin Dharma) / The Origin and Practice of Single-Pointed Nārāyaṇa-Centered Discipline

Devanagari script

ततस्ते लोकपितर: सर्वलोकार्थचिन्तका: । प्रावर्तयन्त तच्छास्त्रं धर्मयोनिं सनातनम्‌

Transliteration

tataste lokapitarḥ sarvalokārthacintakāḥ | prāvartayanta tacchāstraṃ dharmayoniṃ sanātanam ||

Translation

Then those Prajāpatis, the Fathers of the worlds—ever intent on the welfare of all beings—set that teaching in motion and spread it through the world: the eternal śāstra that is the very source and foundation of dharma.

Word by Word

• ततः: then, thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

• ते: those
• ते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• लोकपितरः: fathers of the worlds (Prajapatis)
• लोकपितरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोकपितृ
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• सर्वलोकार्थचिन्तकाः: thinking of the welfare of all worlds
• सर्वलोकार्थचिन्तकाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्वलोकार्थचिन्तक
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• प्रावर्तयन्: set in motion, promulgated
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र√वृत् (वर्तते)
• Form: imperfect (laṅ), 3rd, plural, parasmaipada

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• शास्त्रम्: treatise, scripture
• शास्त्रम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शास्त्र
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• धर्मयोनिम्: having dharma as its source/origin; source of dharma
• धर्मयोनिम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: धर्मयोनि
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• सनातनम्: eternal, ancient
• सनातनम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सनातन
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Prajāpatis (Lokapitaraḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma is not presented as a private preference but as an eternal, authoritative śāstra meant for the welfare of all; the world’s progenitors actively promulgate it so that society and cosmic order may be sustained.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma describes how the Prajāpatis—called the ‘Fathers of the worlds’—after considering the good of all beings, disseminate an eternal dharma-śāstra, establishing it as a guiding norm in the world.