Shloka 61

Sarasvatī–Tārkṣya Saṃvāda: Agnihotra-vidhi, Dāna-phala, and Mokṣa-prasaṅga (सरस्वती–तार्क्ष्यसंवादः)

Devanagari script

मार्कण्डेय उवाच त्वद्युक्तोडयमनुप्रश्नो यथावद्‌ वदतां वर । विदितं वेदितव्यं ते स्थित्यर्थ त्वं तु पृष्छसि,मार्कण्डेयजी बोले--वक्ताओंमें श्रेष्ठ युधिष्ठिर! तुम्हारा यह प्रश्न यथार्थ और युक्तिसंगत है। तुम्हें जाननेयोग्य सभी बातोंका ज्ञान है, तो भी तुम केवल लोक-मर्यादाकी रक्षाके लिये यह प्रश्न उपस्थित करते हो

Transliteration

Mārkaṇḍeya uvāca: tvad-yukto ’yam anu-praśno yathāvad vadatāṃ vara | viditaṃ veditavyaṃ te sthity-arthaṃ tvaṃ tu pṛcchasi ||

Translation

Mārkaṇḍeya said: “O best among speakers, Yudhiṣṭhira, this follow-up question of yours is fitting and properly framed. You already know all that is worth knowing; yet you ask it for the sake of upholding right order and public propriety—so that dharma may stand firm in the world.”

Word by Word

• {'Mārkaṇḍeya uvāca': 'Mārkaṇḍeya said', 'tvad-yuktaḥ': 'appropriate to you

• consistent with your character and discernment', 'ayam': 'this', 'anu-praśnaḥ': 'a follow-up question

• a further inquiry', 'yathāvat': 'properly

• as it should be', 'vadatām vara': 'best of speakers (vocative honorific)', 'viditam': 'known

• understood', 'veditavyam': 'what ought to be known

• knowable duty/knowledge', 'te': 'by you / to you', 'sthity-artham': 'for the sake of stability/maintenance (of order, dharma, social norm)', 'tvam': 'you', 'tu': 'but

• indeed (emphatic/contrastive particle)', 'pṛcchasi': 'you ask

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mārkaṇḍeya
• Yudhiṣṭhira

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even when a wise person already knows the answer, asking questions can be a dharmic act—meant to preserve social and moral order (sthiti) and to set a public standard of right conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sage Mārkaṇḍeya responds to Yudhiṣṭhira’s inquiry, praising it as well-formed and appropriate, and notes that Yudhiṣṭhira asks not from ignorance but to uphold propriety and the stability of dharma.