Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 37 Shloka 13 - Mahabharata | Spanish | Vedapath

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Shloka 13

पात्रलक्षण-परिक्षा (Pātra-Lakṣaṇa Parīkṣā) — Criteria for a Worthy Recipient

Devanagari script

आगतानागते चोभे ब्राह्मणो द्विपदं वर: । ब्राह्मणो भरतश्रेष्ठ स्वरधर्म चैव वेद यः:

Transliteration

āgatānāgate cobhe brāhmaṇo dvipadaṃ varaḥ | brāhmaṇo bharataśreṣṭha svadharmaṃ caiva veda yaḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma dijo: «El brāhmaṇa es el primero entre los bípedos, pues conoce tanto lo que ya ha sucedido como lo que aún ha de venir. Oh el mejor de los Bháratas, brāhmaṇa de verdad es aquel que comprende su propio dharma y vive conforme a él».

Word by Word

आगतcome, arrived (i.e., the past)

अनागतnot yet come (i.e., the future)

चand

उभेboth

ब्राह्मणःthe Brahmin

द्विपदम्the two-footed (i.e., mankind)

वरःbest, excellent

ब्राह्मणःthe Brahmin

भरतश्रेष्ठO best of the Bharatas

स्वधर्मम्one's own duty

चand

एवindeed, only

वेदknows

यःwho

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Bharataśreṣṭha (Yudhiṣṭhira, implied addressee)

Brāhmaṇa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse defines true Brāhmaṇa-hood not merely by birth but by knowledge and lived adherence to svadharma: the highest human is the one who understands dharma and practices it.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and social-ethical ideals; here he praises the Brāhmaṇa as foremost among humans and frames the criterion as knowing and following one’s proper duty.