Shloka 14
धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)
ममैतास्तनव: श्रेष्ठा जाता धर्मगृहे द्विज । तास्त्वं भजस्व सततं साधयस्व यथागतम्,विप्रवर! धर्मके घरमें जो अवतीर्ण हुए हैं, वे नर-नारायण आदि चारों भाई मेरे ही स्वरूप हैं; अतः तुम सदा उनका भजन किया करो तथा जो कार्य प्राप्त हो, उसका साधन करो
bhīṣma uvāca | mamaitās tanavaḥ śreṣṭhā jātā dharmagṛhe dvija | tāstvam bhajasva satataṃ sādhayasva yathāgatam | vipravara ||
Bhishma said: “O twice-born one, these excellent manifestations are born in the house of Dharma and are in truth my own forms. Therefore, O best of Brahmins, worship them constantly, and accomplish whatever duty comes to you in due course, as it arrives.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma instructs that true ethical life combines steady devotion to the righteous (or divine embodiments of Dharma) with practical responsibility: one should continually revere what is dharmic and also perform one’s duties as they arise, without avoidance or agitation.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction-setting, Bhishma addresses a Brahmin interlocutor and identifies certain exalted beings born in the ‘house of Dharma’ as his own manifestations, urging the listener to worship them constantly and to carry out whatever task or obligation comes in the proper course of events.