Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 168 Shloka 2 - Mahabharata | Spanish | Vedapath

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Shloka 2

Devanagari script

निर्णये वा महाबुद्धे सर्वधर्मविदां वर । प्रत्यक्षमागमो वेति कि तयो: कारणं भवेत्‌

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca: nirṇaye vā mahābuddhe sarvadharmavidāṃ vara | pratyakṣam āgamo veti kiṃ tayoḥ kāraṇaṃ bhavet ||

Translation

Dijo Vaiśampāyana: «¡Oh, de gran entendimiento, el mejor entre todos los conocedores del dharma! Cuando haya que dirimir una cuestión de dharma, ¿debe uno apoyarse en la percepción directa o en la tradición autorizada (āgama)? De estas dos, ¿cuál es el fundamento decisivo para establecer una conclusión doctrinal?»

Word by Word

निर्णयेin (the matter of) decision/determination

वाor

महाबुद्धेO great-intellect (one)

सर्वधर्मविदाम्of all knowers of dharma

वरO best/excellent (one)

प्रत्यक्षम्direct perception (as a pramāṇa)

आगमःscriptural testimony/tradition (āgama)

वाor

इतिthus (quotative)

किम्what? which?

तयोःof the two (of them)

कारणम्cause/decisive ground

भवेत्would be / should be

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Pitāmaha (Bhīṣma, implied addressee)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a foundational inquiry in dharma-discourse: when ethical or religious conclusions are disputed, what counts as the primary pramāṇa (means of valid knowledge)—direct perception (pratyakṣa) or authoritative tradition/scripture (āgama)?

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana reports a question addressed to the Pitāmaha (Bhīṣma) in the Anuśāsana context: the interlocutor seeks guidance on how to adjudicate dharma—by what is directly seen/experienced or by what is transmitted as authoritative teaching.