Shloka 30

एकान्तिधर्म-प्रश्नः (Inquiry into Ekāntin Dharma) / The Origin and Practice of Single-Pointed Nārāyaṇa-Centered Discipline

Devanagari script

सप्त प्रकृतयो होतास्तथा स्वायम्भुवोडष्टम: । एताभिर्धार्यते लोकस्ताभ्य: शास्त्र विनि:सृतम्‌

Transliteration

saptaprakṛtayo hotās tathā svāyambhuvo ’ṣṭamaḥ | etābhir dhāryate lokas tābhyaḥ śāstra-viniḥsṛtam ||

Translation

Bhīṣma dit : « Il est sept principes primordiaux (prakṛti), et le huitième est Svāyambhuva (Brahmā). Par eux le monde est soutenu, et d’eux sont issues les doctrines faisant autorité (śāstra). Ces sages sont d’un seul esprit, maîtres d’eux-mêmes, voués à la discipline, connaisseurs du passé, du futur et du présent, et fermement établis dans la vérité et le dharma. »

Word by Word

• सप्त: seven
• सप्त: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सप्त
• Form: feminine, nominative, plural

• प्रकृतयः: natures/constituents (prakṛtis)
• प्रकृतयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रकृति
• Form: feminine, nominative, plural

• होताः: offerers/priests (hotṛs)
• होताः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: होतृ
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• तथा: and likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• स्वायम्भुवः: Svāyambhuva (Manu/the self-born one)
• स्वायम्भुवः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वायम्भुव
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• अष्टमः: the eighth
• अष्टमः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अष्टम
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• एताभिः: by these
• एताभिः: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद्
• Form: feminine, instrumental, plural

• धार्यते: is upheld/sustained
• Type: Verb
• Root: धृ
• Form: present, passive, third, singular

• लोकः: the world
• लोकः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोक
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• ताभ्यः: from them
• ताभ्यः: Apadana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: feminine, ablative, plural

• शास्त्रम्: the teaching/treatise (śāstra)
• शास्त्रम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शास्त्र
• Form: neuter, nominative, singular

• विनिःसृतम्: has issued forth/emanated
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि-नि-√सृ
• Form: neuter, nominative, singular, क्त (past passive participle)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Svāyambhuva (Brahmā)
• sapta prakṛtayaḥ (seven prakṛtis)
• śāstra
• loka

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The cosmos is sustained by fundamental principles (seven prakṛtis) together with the self-born creator (Svāyambhuva/Brahmā), and normative knowledge (śāstra) is presented as emanating from these foundational sources; true sages embody restraint, self-mastery, and commitment to truth and dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīṣma continues a doctrinal exposition, grounding ethical and scriptural authority in a cosmological framework and describing the qualities of the rishis who uphold and transmit that order.