Shloka 47
Yuddha-yajña-vyākhyāna (The Battle as Sacrifice): Ambarīṣa–Indra Saṃvāda
एतत् तपश्न पुण्यं च धर्मश्वैव सनातन:
etat tapaś ca puṇyaṃ ca dharmaś caiva sanātanaḥ
Ambarīṣa said: “This is austerity, this is merit, and this indeed is the eternal Dharma.”
अम्बरीष उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ambarīṣa equates the practice under discussion with three inseparable ideals: tapas (disciplined self-restraint), puṇya (moral-spiritual merit), and sanātana-dharma (the timeless ethical order). The verse stresses that true righteousness is not merely a rule but a perennial principle embodied through inner discipline.
In the Śānti Parva’s didactic setting, Ambarīṣa is speaking as a teacher-figure, concluding or affirming a point by declaring that what has just been described constitutes genuine austerity, genuine merit, and the eternal form of Dharma.