Shloka 4
Nāga–Nāgabhāryā Saṃvāda: Varṇa-Dharma, Gṛhastha-Discipline, and Mokṣa-Self-Inquiry
Mahābhārata 12.347
नारद उवाच त्वयैतत् कथित पूर्वे दैवं कर्तव्यमित्यपि | दैवतं च परो यज्ञ: परमात्मा सनातन:
nārada uvāca | tvayaitat kathitaṃ pūrve daivaṃ kartavyam ity api | daivataṃ ca paro yajñaḥ paramātmā sanātanaḥ ||
Narada said: “Lord, you yourself previously taught that divine duties—acts offered to the gods and upheld by sacred ordinance—are obligatory for all. For the deity is best honored through sacrifice; and sacrifice, in its highest sense, is none other than the eternal Supreme Self.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
That daiva-karmas—religiously enjoined acts directed toward the divine—are obligatory, because the highest form of honoring the divine is yajña; and in its deepest meaning yajña is identified with the eternal Paramātmā, making sacrificial duty a spiritual discipline rather than mere ritual.
Narada recalls and cites the interlocutor’s earlier instruction: that divine duties must be performed. He supports this by linking deity, sacrifice, and the Supreme Self—arguing that yajña is the supreme mode of worship and is ultimately grounded in the eternal Paramātmā.