Shloka 2
उतथ्योपदेशः—राजधर्मः, दर्पनिग्रहः, प्रजारक्षणम्
Utathya’s Instruction: Royal Dharma, Restraint of Pride, Protection of Subjects
स यथानुशशासैनमुत9थ्यो ब्रह्मवित्तम: । तत् ते सर्व प्रवक्ष्यामि निखिलेन युधिछिर
sa yathānuśaśāsa enam utathyo brahmavittamaḥ | tat te sarvaṃ pravakṣyāmi nikhilena yudhiṣṭhira ||
Bhīṣma said: “Just as Utathya—foremost among the knowers of Brahman—once instructed him, so will I now recount that entire teaching to you, Yudhiṣṭhira, completely and in due order. Listen.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames the transmission of authoritative spiritual-ethical instruction: Bhīṣma promises to relay, in full, the teaching earlier given by the sage Utathya (a foremost knower of Brahman). The emphasis is on faithful, complete exposition of a revered dharma/Brahma-vidyā teaching for Yudhiṣṭhira’s guidance.
Within the Śānti Parva’s long counsel to the grieving king, Bhīṣma introduces a new instructional episode: he is about to narrate to Yudhiṣṭhira the entire counsel that Utathya once delivered to another person previously mentioned in the surrounding verses, signaling a shift into a cited traditional teaching.