Mahabharata — Udyoga Parva, Shloka 163
कर्ण–कृष्णसंवादः (Karṇa–Kṛṣṇa-saṃvādaḥ) — Karṇa’s Statement on Lineage, Loyalty, and the ‘Śastra-yajña’ Metaphor
पुरोहित: पाण्डवानां ब्रह्मकर्मण्यवस्थित: । विशुद्ध हृदयवाले द्विजश्रेष्ठ धौम्य आज तुम्हारे लिये होम करें और चारों वेदोंके विद्वान् ब्राह्मण तथा सदा ब्राह्मणोचित धर्मके पालनमें स्थित रहनेवाले पाण्डवोंके पुरोहित धौम्यजी भी तुम्हारा राज्याभिषेक करें
purohitaḥ pāṇḍavānāṃ brahmakarmaṇy-avasthitaḥ | viśuddha-hṛdayavān dvijaśreṣṭho dhaumyaḥ adya tubhyaṃ homaṃ kuryāt, caturṇāṃ vedānāṃ vidvāṃso brāhmaṇāś ca; sadā brāhmaṇocita-dharma-pālane sthitānāṃ pāṇḍavānāṃ purohito dhaumyaḥ api tava rājābhiṣekaṃ kuryāt |
“Let Dhaumya—the Pandavas’ family priest, steadfast in the sacred duties of a Brahmin, pure in heart and foremost among the twice-born—perform a fire-offering for you today. Let learned Brahmins, masters of the four Vedas, be present as well. And let Dhaumya, the priest of the Pandavas who ever remain established in conduct befitting Brahmins and in the observance of dharma, also perform your royal consecration (rājābhiṣeka).”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Political authority should be grounded in dharma and validated through proper Vedic rites performed by qualified, pure-minded priests; legitimacy is portrayed as ethical and ritual, not merely force-based.
Vayudeva recommends that Dhaumya, the Pandavas’ priest, along with learned Brahmins, perform a homa and then conduct the royal consecration, emphasizing a dharmic, Veda-sanctioned installation of kingship.