Shloka 44
अध्याय ३५१ — उञ्छवृत्ति-व्रतसिद्धेः मानुषस्य परमगतिः
Sūrya–Nāga Dialogue on the Perfected Gleaner-Ascetic
“अपान्तरतमाने स्वायम्भुव मन्वन्तरमें भगवान्की आज्ञाके अनुसार वेदोंका विभाग किया। उनके इस कर्मसे तथा उनके द्वारा की हुई उत्तम तपस्या, यम और नियमसे भी भगवान् श्रीहरि बहुत संतुष्ट हुए और बोले--“बेटा! तुम सभी मन्वन्तरोंमें इसी प्रकार धर्मके प्रवर्तक होओगे” ।। भविष्यस्यचलो ब्रद्चान्नप्रधृष्यश्च नित्यश: । पुनस्तिष्ये च सम्प्राप्ते कुरवो नाम भारता:
bhaviṣyasy acalo brāhmaṇ na pradhṛṣyaś ca nityaśaḥ | punas tiṣye ca samprāpte kuravo nāma bhāratāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: In the Svāyambhuva Manvantara, Apāntaratamas, acting under the Lord’s command, arranged the Vedas into divisions. Pleased by this service, and by his excellent austerity together with self-restraint and disciplined observances, Lord Śrī Hari spoke: “My child, in every Manvantara you shall likewise become a promoter of dharma.” Moreover, he will remain steadfast and unshaken in the future; and when the Tisya age arrives again, the Bhāratas will be known by the name ‘Kuravas.’
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is sustained through disciplined practice (tapas, yama, niyama) and selfless service to sacred knowledge; when such effort aligns with divine purpose, it becomes a recurring vocation across cosmic cycles—one is empowered to be a continual ‘promoter of dharma.’
Vaiśampāyana recounts how Apāntaratamas, under the Lord’s instruction, organized the Vedas; the Lord, pleased with his austerity and restraint, grants him a boon that he will repeatedly serve as a dharma-propagator in successive Manvantaras, and notes a future time (Tiṣya) when the Bhāratas will be known as the Kurus.