Shloka 3
Gālava’s Eastern Ascent with Garuḍa; Counsel on Kāla and Upāya (उद्योगपर्व, अध्याय ११०)
अस्यां दिशि वरिष्ठायामुत्तरायां द्विजर्षभ । नासौम्यो नाविधेयात्मा नाधर्मो वसते जन:
asyāṁ diśi variṣṭhāyām uttarāyāṁ dvijarṣabha | nāsaumyo nāvidheyātmā nādharmo vasate janaḥ ||
«Oh toro entre los nacidos dos veces, en este excelentísimo cuadrante del norte—renombrado por su dignidad—no mora persona alguna que no sea de disposición apacible, que no haya disciplinado la mente, o que no permanezca en el dharma. Es una dirección ligada al freno ético y a la recta conducta, no a la aspereza, al capricho ni a la irreligión.»
युपर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links true excellence with dharma and inner discipline: a noble realm (symbolized by the northern quarter) is characterized by gentleness, self-mastery, and righteous conduct; harshness, uncontrolled mind, and adharma are portrayed as incompatible with such a place.
Yuparṇa addresses a Brahmin interlocutor and praises the northern direction as a morally elevated region, asserting that people lacking gentleness, self-restraint, and dharmic conduct do not reside there—using ‘direction’ as a way to describe the ethical character of a land and its inhabitants.