Shloka 7
दानपात्रापात्र-निर्णयः / Determining Worthy Gifts, Recipients, and Permissible Food
स ते धर्मरहस्येषु संशयान् मनसि स्थितान् | छेत्ता भागीरथीपुत्र: सर्वज्ञ: सर्वधर्मवित्
sa te dharmarahasyeṣu saṁśayān manasi sthitān | chettā bhāgīrathīputraḥ sarvajñaḥ sarvadharmavit ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “The son of the Bhāgīrathī (Bhīṣma)—all-knowing and fully versed in every aspect of dharma—will cut through and dispel all the doubts about the secret principles of dharma that are lodged in your mind.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
True understanding of dharma often involves subtle ‘secrets’ (rahasya) that generate doubt; such doubt should be resolved by approaching an authoritative knower of dharma—here, Bhīṣma—whose insight can clarify complex ethical questions.
Vaiśampāyana points the listener toward Bhīṣma as the definitive teacher: Bhīṣma, famed as Gaṅgā’s son and a master of dharma, will answer and remove the inquirer’s internal uncertainties about dharma’s deeper principles.