Shloka 2
Brāhmaṇa-mahattva and Atithi-Dharma
Brahmagītā: Praise of Brāhmaṇas and norms of honor
शरणागतं ये रक्षन्ति भूतग्रामं चतुर्विधम् | कि तस्य भरतश्रेष्ठ फलं भवति तत्त्वतः
śaraṇāgataṃ ye rakṣanti bhūtagrāmaṃ caturvidham | kiṃ tasya bharataśreṣṭha phalaṃ bhavati tattvataḥ ||
Dijo Yudhiṣṭhira: «Oh el mejor de los Bharatas, ¿cuál es, en verdad, la recompensa de quienes protegen a los seres que han buscado refugio: la comunidad cuádruple de los vivientes—los nacidos del huevo, del vientre, de la humedad y de la tierra (las plantas)?»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds a key dharmic principle: protecting those who seek refuge—indeed, safeguarding living beings—is a morally weighty act whose true spiritual and ethical ‘fruit’ should be understood in its real nature (tattvataḥ).
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses an elder authority (called ‘best of the Bharatas’) and asks what reward accrues to people who protect creatures that have come seeking shelter, introducing a discussion on the merit and duty of refuge-protection.