Shloka 56
पञ्चवर्णोत्पत्तिः — The Origin of the Five-Colored Fiery Being and Ritual-Disruptor Lineages
कथं च फलमाप्रोति तेषां धर्मभूतां वर । एतदिच्छामि तत्त्वेन धर्म ज्ञातुं निबोध मे,धर्मात्माओंमें श्रेष्ठ व्याध! उन इन्द्रियोंके निग्रहका फल कैसे प्राप्त होता है? मैं इस इन्द्रिय-निग्रहरूपी धर्मको यथार्थरूपसे जानना चाहता हूँ। तुम मुझे समझाओ
kathaṃ ca phalam āpnoti teṣāṃ dharmabhūtāṃ vara | etad icchāmi tattvena dharmaṃ jñātuṃ nibodha me ||
The brāhmaṇa said: “O best among the righteous, how does one truly obtain the fruit of that discipline which consists in restraining the senses? I wish to understand, in its real nature, this dharma of self-control. Teach me and make me comprehend it.”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a key ethical inquiry: sense-restraint (indriya-nigraha) is treated as dharma, and the brāhmaṇa asks how its ‘fruit’ is attained. The emphasis is that self-control is not merely a technique but a moral-spiritual discipline whose true nature and results must be understood correctly (tattvena).
In a teacher–student style dialogue, the brāhmaṇa addresses a figure regarded as ‘best among the righteous’ (vara)—in this episode, the vyādha (hunter) known for dharmic insight—and requests a clear explanation of how the practice of restraining the senses yields its proper result.