Shloka 3
Gālava’s Eastern Ascent with Garuḍa; Counsel on Kāla and Upāya (उद्योगपर्व, अध्याय ११०)
अस्यां दिशि वरिष्ठायामुत्तरायां द्विजर्षभ । नासौम्यो नाविधेयात्मा नाधर्मो वसते जन:,द्विजश्रेष्ठ) इस गौरवशालिनी दिशामें ऐसे लोगोंका वास नहीं है, जो सौम्य स्वभावके न हों, जिन्होंने अपने मनको वशमें न किया हो तथा जो धर्मका पालन न करते हों
asyāṁ diśi variṣṭhāyām uttarāyāṁ dvijarṣabha | nāsaumyo nāvidheyātmā nādharmo vasate janaḥ ||
“O bull among the twice-born, in this most excellent northern quarter—renowned for its dignity—no person dwells who is not gentle in disposition, who has not brought the mind under discipline, or who does not abide by dharma. It is a direction associated with ethical restraint and righteous conduct, not with harshness, self-will, or irreligion.”
युपर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links true excellence with dharma and inner discipline: a noble realm (symbolized by the northern quarter) is characterized by gentleness, self-mastery, and righteous conduct; harshness, uncontrolled mind, and adharma are portrayed as incompatible with such a place.
Yuparṇa addresses a Brahmin interlocutor and praises the northern direction as a morally elevated region, asserting that people lacking gentleness, self-restraint, and dharmic conduct do not reside there—using ‘direction’ as a way to describe the ethical character of a land and its inhabitants.