Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 30
Dāna-Śreṣṭhatā: Abhaya, Anugraha, and the Ethics of Honoring the Worthy (दानश्रेष्ठता: अभय-अनुग्रह-विप्रपूजा)
एवमेतद् यथा<<वत्थ व्वं ब्राद्मण्यं तात दुर्लभम् | ब्राह्मणे सति चर्षित्वमृषित्वे च तपस्विता
evam etad yathāttha tvaṁ brāhmaṇyaṁ tāta durlabham | brāhmaṇe sati ca ṛṣitvam ṛṣitve ca tapasvitā ||
Cyavana dit : «C’est exactement comme tu l’as dit, mon cher : la véritable condition de brāhmaṇa est difficile à atteindre. Et même lorsqu’on est brāhmaṇa, devenir un ṛṣi est plus rare encore ; et même lorsqu’on est ṛṣi, être réellement austère et maître de soi l’est plus encore.»
च्यवन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse ranks spiritual qualifications: brahminhood is rare, but true sagehood is rarer, and authentic austerity and self-mastery are rarer still—implying that ethical-spiritual excellence is measured by realized discipline, not merely by status.
Cyavana responds approvingly to the listener’s earlier remark about the link between tapas (austerity) and brāhmaṇatva (brahminhood), affirming that these attainments are progressively difficult and therefore especially worthy of reverence.