Shloka 3
पञ्चमहाभूतगुण-इन्द्रियनिग्रह-उपदेशः | Teaching on the Qualities of the Five Elements and Sense-Control
विदितास्तव धर्मज्ञ देवदानवराक्षसा: | राजवंशाक्ष विविधा ऋषिवंशाशक्ष शाश्वता:,“धर्मज्ञ मुने! आप देवता, दानव तथा राक्षसोंको भी अच्छी तरह जानते हैं। आपको नाना प्रकारके राजवंशों तथा ऋषियोंकी सनातन वंशपरम्पराका भी ज्ञान है
viditās tava dharmajña devadānavarākṣasāḥ | rājavaṁśāś ca vividhā ṛṣivaṁśāś ca śāśvatāḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O knower of dharma! You are well acquainted with the gods, the Dānavas, and the Rākṣasas. You also know the many kinds of royal lineages, and the eternal successions of the seer-families.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse establishes the authority of a dharma-knowing sage by highlighting comprehensive knowledge—of divine and demonic orders and of royal and seer lineages—implying that ethical counsel and narrative truth in the epic rest on learned tradition and lineage-memory.
Vaiśampāyana describes (or has someone addressed as) a sage as “dharmajña,” praising his wide-ranging knowledge of beings (devas, dānavas, rākṣasas) and of genealogies (royal and ṛṣi lineages), preparing the ground for a question, instruction, or recounting that relies on such expertise.