Shloka 50
अध्याय ३५१ — उञ्छवृत्ति-व्रतसिद्धेः मानुषस्य परमगतिः
Sūrya–Nāga Dialogue on the Perfected Gleaner-Ascetic
तस्यान्वये चापि ततो महर्षि: पराशरो नाम महाप्रभाव: । पिता स ते वेदनिधिववरिष्ठो महातपा वै तपसो निवास:,जिन्हें ब्राह्मणलोग ब्रह्माजीका मानसपुत्र कहते ऐं, जो उत्तम बुद्धिसे युक्त, तपस्याकी निधि एवं सर्वश्रेष्ठ वसिष्ठ मुनिके नामसे प्रसिद्ध हैं और जिनका तेज भगवान् सूर्यसे भी बढ़कर प्रकाशित होता है, उन्हीं ब्रह्मर्षि वसिष्ठके वंशमें पराशर नामवाले महान् प्रभावशाली महर्षि होंगे। वे वैदिक ज्ञानके भण्डार, मुनियोंमें श्रेष्ठ महान् तपस्वी एवं तपस्याके आवासस्थान होंगे। वे ही पराशर मुनि उस समय तुम्हारे पिता होंगे
tasya anvaye cāpi tato maharṣiḥ parāśaro nāma mahāprabhāvaḥ | pitā sa te vedanidhir vasiṣṭho mahātapā vai tapaso nivāsaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “And in that very lineage thereafter there will arise a great seer named Parāśara, endowed with mighty spiritual power. He will be your father—an inexhaustible treasury of Vedic knowledge, foremost among ascetics, and as it were the very abode of austerity.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse elevates the ethical ideal that true authority rests on tapas (disciplined self-restraint) and Vedic wisdom, presenting spiritual merit and learning—not mere birth or power—as the foundation of greatness within a lineage.
Vaiśampāyana identifies a future (or subsequent) figure in a revered lineage: the sage Parāśara, described as immensely powerful, a repository of Vedic knowledge, and an exemplar of austerity, and states that he will be the listener’s father.