Shloka 65

Devanagari script

राजर्षे! सांख्य, योग, पाउचरात्र, वेद और पाशुपत-शास्त्र--इन ज्ञानोंको तुम नाना प्रकारके मत समझो ।। सांख्यस्य वक्ता कपिल: परमर्षि: स उच्यते । हिरण्यगर्भो योगस्य वेत्ता नान्य: पुरातन:,सांख्यशास्त्रके वक्ता कपिल हैं। वे परम ऋषि कहलाते हैं। योगशास्त्रके पुरातन ज्ञाता हिरण्यगर्भ ब्रह्माजी ही हैं, दूसरा नहीं

Transliteration

rājarṣe! sāṅkhya-yoga-pāñcarātra-veda-pāśupata-śāstrāṇi—etāni jñānāni nānā-vidhāni matāni mā manyethāḥ. sāṅkhyasya vaktā kapilaḥ paramarṣiḥ sa ucyate. hiraṇyagarbho yogasya vettā nānyaḥ purātanaḥ.

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “O royal sage, do not regard Sāṅkhya, Yoga, the Pāñcarātra, the Veda, and the Pāśupata teaching as mutually different ‘opinions’ in their essence. Kapila is declared the supreme seer who taught Sāṅkhya; and Hiraṇyagarbha—Brahmā himself—is the ancient knower of Yoga, none other.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'rājarṣi (राजर्षि)', 'definition': 'a king-sage

• a ruler endowed with ascetic wisdom'}, {'term': 'sāṅkhya (सांख्य)', 'definition': 'the analytical doctrine enumerating principles (tattvas)

• a path of discriminative knowledge'}, {'term': 'yoga (योग)', 'definition': 'discipline of concentration and integration

• a practical path to realization'}, {'term': 'pāñcarātra (पाञ्चरात्र)', 'definition': 'Vaiṣṇava āgamic tradition emphasizing devotion, worship, and disciplined practice'}, {'term': 'veda (वेद)', 'definition': 'the revealed corpus of sacred knowledge and ritual-ethical authority'}, {'term': 'pāśupata-śāstra (पाशुपत-शास्त्र)', 'definition': 'Śaiva doctrine associated with Paśupati (Śiva), outlining observances and liberation'}, {'term': 'śāstra (शास्त्र)', 'definition': 'authoritative treatise

• systematic teaching'}, {'term': 'jñāna (ज्ञान)', 'definition': 'knowledge

• especially liberating insight'}, {'term': 'nānā-vidha / nānā-prakāra (नानाविध/नानाप्रकार)', 'definition': 'of many kinds

• diverse in form'}, {'term': 'mata (मत)', 'definition': 'view, opinion, doctrinal position'}, {'term': 'vaktṛ / vaktā (वक्ता)', 'definition': 'speaker, expounder, teacher'}, {'term': 'paramarṣi (परमर्षि)', 'definition': 'supreme seer

• highest among sages'}, {'term': 'hiraṇyagarbha (हिरण्यगर्भ)', 'definition': '‘Golden Embryo’

• a title of Brahmā, the cosmic progenitor'}, {'term': 'vettā (वेत्ता)', 'definition': 'knower

• one who has mastered a teaching'}, {'term': 'purātana (पुरातन)', 'definition': 'ancient, primordial'}]

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Kapila
• Hiraṇyagarbha (Brahmā)
• Sāṅkhya
• Yoga
• Pāñcarātra
• Veda
• Pāśupata-śāstra

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse urges a non-sectarian reading of major śāstric paths—Sāṅkhya, Yoga, Pāñcarātra, Veda, and Pāśupata—treating them as convergent forms of liberating knowledge rather than competing doctrines, while grounding them in revered primordial teachers (Kapila for Sāṅkhya; Hiraṇyagarbha/Brahmā for Yoga).

What is happening in the narrative?

In Vaiśampāyana’s discourse within the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, he addresses a royal sage and clarifies the pedigree and essential harmony of different philosophical and devotional systems by naming their authoritative originators.