Shloka 2
यत्र पूर्वाभिसर्गे वै धर्मचक्रं प्रवर्तितम् । नैमिषे गोमतीतीरे तत्र नागाह्नयं पुरम्,द्विजश्रेष्ठ! पूर्वकल्पमें जहाँ प्रजापतिने धर्मचक्र प्रवर्तित किया था, सम्पूर्ण देवताओं ने जहाँ यज्ञ किया था तथा जहाँ राजाओंमें श्रेष्ठ मान्धाता यज्ञ करनेमें इन्द्रसे भी आगे बढ़ गये थे, उस नैमिषारण्यमें गोमतीके तटपर नागपुर नामक एक नगर है
yatra pūrvābhisarge vai dharmacakraṁ pravartitam | naimiṣe gomatītīre tatra nāgāhnayaṁ puram, dvijaśreṣṭha |
O best of Brahmins, on the bank of the Gomati in Naimiṣa—where, in a former creation-cycle, the Wheel of Dharma was set in motion—there stands a city called Nāgāhnaya. The verse evokes a sacred geography: a place remembered as the ancient seat of dharma’s establishment and of divine sacrificial activity, thereby grounding the ensuing discourse in an authoritative, sanctified setting.
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is presented as an instituted, living order—‘the wheel’ set in motion in primordial times. By locating the teaching in a renowned tīrtha-region (Naimiṣa on the Gomati), the text implies that ethical instruction gains weight when rooted in remembered sites of ancient dharmic establishment and ritual authority.
A Brahmin speaker identifies a specific sacred location: on the Gomati at Naimiṣa there is a city named Nāgāhnaya, famed as a place where, in an earlier cosmic cycle, dharma was inaugurated. This functions as a scene-setting prelude for the discourse that follows.