Shloka 643
ऋषीणां संनिधौ राजन् शृण्वतो: कृष्णभीष्मयो: । प्रजानाथ! इस प्रकार मेरे धर्मज्ञ गुरु द्विजश्रेष्ठ भगवान् व्यासने श्रीकृष्ण और भीष्मके सुनते हुए ऋषि-मुनियोंके समीप धर्मराजको इस धर्मका उपदेश किया था
ṛṣīṇāṃ saṃnidhau rājan śṛṇvatoḥ kṛṣṇabhīṣmayoḥ | prajānātha! iti prakāraṃ me dharmajño guruḥ dvijaśreṣṭho bhagavān vyāsaḥ śrīkṛṣṇaṃ ca bhīṣmaṃ ca śṛṇvataḥ ṛṣimunīnāṃ samīpe dharmarājaṃ etasya dharmasya upadeśaṃ kṛtavān |
Vaiśampāyana said: “O King, in the presence of the sages, while Kṛṣṇa and Bhīṣma listened, my dharma-knowing teacher—the foremost of the twice-born, the venerable Vyāsa—thus instructed Dharmarāja in this teaching on righteousness. The counsel was delivered near the assembled seers, grounding royal duty in the witness of spiritual authority and the attentive hearing of the great.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames dharma as an authoritative teaching transmitted in a formal setting: Vyāsa, the revered sage, instructs Dharmarāja on righteousness in the presence of other sages, with Kṛṣṇa and Bhīṣma as attentive witnesses—emphasizing that ethical governance is grounded in śāstra-informed counsel and careful listening.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that Vyāsa delivered a discourse on dharma to Yudhiṣṭhira (Dharmarāja). The instruction occurs before an assembly of ṛṣis, while Kṛṣṇa and Bhīṣma listen, highlighting a public, tradition-sanctioned transmission of moral and political guidance in the Śānti Parva context.