Shloka 19

Adhyāya 189: Japa—Inquiry into the Jāpaka, Method

Vidhi), and Fruit (Phala

Devanagari script

प्रजा ब्राह्मणसंस्कारा: स्वकर्मकृतनिश्चया: । ऋषिभि: स्वेन तपसा सृज्यन्ते चापरे परै:

Transliteration

bharadvāja uvāca | prajā brāhmaṇasaṃskārāḥ svakarmakṛtaniścayāḥ | ṛṣibhiḥ svena tapasā sṛjyante cāpare paraiḥ ||

Translation

Bharadvāja dijo: «Algunos pueblos fueron engendrados por los rishis mediante el poder de su propia austeridad: dotados de los saṃskāras brahmánicos (védicos) y firmemente resueltos en el cumplimiento de sus deberes propios. Así, por los sabios antiguos, siguieron produciéndose nuevas generaciones de sabios y comunidades.»

Word by Word

• {'prajā': 'creatures

• progeny', 'brāhmaṇa-saṃskārāḥ': 'endowed with Vedic rites/sacraments and formative disciplines (saṃskāras) associated with Brahmanical tradition', 'sva-karma': 'one’s own prescribed duty/work (in accordance with one’s station and obligations)', 'kṛta-niścayāḥ': 'those who have made a firm resolve

• determined', 'ṛṣibhiḥ': 'by the seers/sages', 'svena tapasā': 'by their own tapas (austerity, ascetic heat, disciplined spiritual effort)', 'sṛjyante': 'are created/produced

• are brought forth', 'apare': 'others

• some others', 'paraiḥ': 'by others

Speaker

भरद्वाज उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bharadvāja
• ṛṣi (sages)
• prajā (people/progeny)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse links social and ethical stability to two forces: (1) saṃskāra—Vedic formation through rites and disciplined education—and (2) niścaya—steadfast commitment to one’s own dharma (sva-karma). It also presents tapas as a creative, world-sustaining power in the hands of ṛṣis.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bharadvāja describes how sages, through their austerities, generated communities (and successive lines of sages/people) characterized by Vedic refinement and firm adherence to duty, indicating an ongoing transmission from earlier ṛṣis to later ones.