Shloka 1
Atithi-prāpti and the Brāhmaṇa’s Deliberation on Triadic Dharma (अतिथिप्राप्तिः धर्मत्रयविचारश्च)
(दाक्षिणात्य अधिक पाठके १५६३ श्लोक मिलाकर कुल १५६३ श्लोक हैं) ४-23 ह््य हि की चत्वारिशर्दाधिकत्रिशततमो< ध्याय: व्यासजीका अपने शिष्योंको भगवानद्ारा ब्रह्मादि देवताओंसे कहे हुए प्रवृत्ति और निवृत्तिरूप धर्मके शका रहस्य बताना शौनक उवाच कथं स भगवान् देवो यज्ञेष्वग्रहर: प्रभु: । यज्ञधारी च सततं वेदवेदाड़वित् तथा
śaunaka uvāca
kathaṃ sa bhagavān devo yajñeṣv agraharaḥ prabhuḥ |
yajñadhārī ca satataṃ vedavedāṅgavit tathā ||
Shaunaka said: “How is that Lord—Narayana, the sovereign, mighty and knowable through the Vedas—regarded in sacrifices as the one who receives the foremost share? And how is He also described as ever the bearer and performer of sacrifice, the knower of the Vedas and the Vedangas? How can both agency (as sacrificer) and enjoyership (as recipient of offerings) be possible in the one and the same Supreme?”
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a theological problem central to dharma and ritual: the Supreme is described both as the yajamāna-like agent who sustains sacrifice and as the primary recipient of sacrificial offerings. It invites an explanation of how divine immanence and transcendence allow one reality to be both the ground of ritual action and the ultimate enjoyer of its fruits.
In the Shānti Parva’s didactic setting, the sage Śaunaka questions (through the Sūta’s narration) the status of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa in yajñas: why He is called the foremost claimant of offerings and yet also the perpetual upholder/performer of sacrifice and the knower of Vedic lore. The question sets up the ensuing exposition on the deeper ‘secret’ of pravṛtti- and nivṛtti-dharma.