Shloka 107
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
आपके केश गंगाके तरंगोंसे अंकित तथा मुञ्जके समान हैं। आपको नमस्कार है। आप ब्राह्मणोंके छ: कर्म--अध्ययन-अध्यापन, यजन-याजन तथा दान और प्रतिग्रहसे संतुष्ट रहते हैं; स्वयं यजन, अध्ययन और दानरूप तीन कर्मोंमें ही तत्पर रहते हैं। आपको मेरा प्रणाम है ।।
varṇāśramāṇāṁ vidhivat pṛthak-karmanivartini | namo ghuṣyāya ghoṣāya namaḥ kalakalāya ca ||
Tu cabellera está marcada como las olas del Ganges y es semejante a la hierba muñja. A ti, salutación. Tú te complaces en los seis deberes del brahmán—estudiar y enseñar, oficiar el yajña y hacerlo oficiar, dar y recibir; mas tú mismo te aplicas sólo a tres: oficiar el yajña, estudiar y dar. Ante ti me inclino. Y rindo homenaje al Sonido sagrado que, conforme a la norma, distingue y ordena los deberes propios de los varṇa y los āśrama. Me postro ante el clamor resonante y ante el murmullo incesante.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse venerates the principle that dharma is sustained when the duties of each varṇa and āśrama are kept distinct and followed according to rule; the ‘sound’ imagery suggests public proclamation, ritual recitation, and the living rhythm of ordered conduct.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma continues his instruction on dharma and social order; here he offers salutations to the force (personified) that maintains proper differentiation of duties, praising the resonant and murmuring sounds associated with regulated religious and communal life.