Shloka 37
Daṇḍotpatti-kathana (Origin and Function of Daṇḍa) — वसुहोम–मान्धातृ संवाद
धर्मयुक्ता द्विजश्रेष्ठा वेदयुक्ता भवन्ति च । बभूव यज्ञो वेदेभ्यो यज्ञ: प्रीणाति देवता:
bhīṣma uvāca | dharmayuktā dvijaśreṣṭhā vedayuktā bhavanti ca | babhūva yajño vedebhyo yajñaḥ prīṇāti devatāḥ |
Dijo Bhīṣma: «Los mejores entre los nacidos dos veces se afirman en el dharma y se asientan en el Veda. De los Vedas surgió el sacrificio (yajña), y el sacrificio complace a los dioses.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma links dharma, Vedic study, and yajña into a single ethical-cosmic chain: disciplined adherence to dharma and the Veda gives rise to sacrificial action, and such yajña sustains harmony by satisfying the divine powers that uphold the world.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on righteous order, Bhishma addresses Yudhishthira and explains how Brahmins grounded in dharma and Vedic learning perform yajña; he frames yajña as originating from the Vedas and as the means by which the gods are pleased, supporting the stability of society and the cosmos.