Shloka 12
Vyaktāvyakta-Viveka and Nivṛtti as Paramā Gati
Manifest–Unmanifest Discrimination and the Supreme Path of Withdrawal
वैश्यो वैश्यैस्तथा श्राव्य: शूद्र: शूद्रैमहामना: । माहात्म्यं देवदेवस्य विष्णोरमिततेजस:
vaiśyo vaiśyais tathā śrāvyaḥ śūdraḥ śūdrair mahāmanāḥ | māhātmyaṃ devadevasya viṣṇor amitatejasaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Qu’un vaiśya soit instruit par des vaiśyas, et qu’un śūdra au cœur noble le soit par des śūdras. Ainsi doit-on raconter la grandeur de Viṣṇu —Dieu des dieux, d’une splendeur sans mesure—.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the transmission of religious instruction—specifically the recitation of Viṣṇu’s māhātmya (glory)—should follow socially appropriate channels (within one’s varṇa/community), reflecting the Mahābhārata’s concern for maintaining dharma as ordered conduct while promoting devotion to the supreme deity.
Bhīṣma, in his extended instruction during the Śānti Parva, lays down a rule about who should teach whom, and frames it around the telling of Viṣṇu’s greatness. It functions as a prescriptive guideline within his broader discourse on righteous conduct and religious practice.