Shloka 3
Śānti Parva, Adhyāya 52 — Bhīṣma’s Humility Before Kṛṣṇa and the Granting of Boons
कि चाहमभिधास्यामि वाक्य ते तव संनिधौ । यदा वाचोगतं सर्व तव वाचि समाहितम्,“भला” मैं आपके समीप क्या कह सकूँगा? जब कि वाणीका सारा विषय आपकी वेदमयी वाणीमें प्रतिष्ठित है
ki cāham abhidhāsyāmi vākyaṁ te tava saṁnidhau | yadā vācogataṁ sarvaṁ tava vāci samāhitam ||
Dijo Vaiśampāyana: «¿Qué palabras podría yo pronunciar ante ti, en tu misma presencia, cuando todo cuanto puede expresarse por el habla ya se halla reunido y firmemente establecido en tu propia voz, semejante al Veda?»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights intellectual and ethical humility: true wisdom is not mere verbosity, and one should recognize when another’s speech already encompasses the full scope of what can be said—especially when it is grounded in Vedic authority and disciplined understanding.
Vaiśampāyana expresses deference to his interlocutor, saying he can hardly add anything in that person’s presence because all expressible knowledge is already contained and well-established in the other’s Veda-like speech.