Shloka 119
धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)
तेषां सकाशात् सूर्यस्तु श्रुत्वा वै भावितात्मनाम् । आत्मानुगामिनां राजन् श्रावयामास वै तत:
Teṣāṁ sakāśāt sūryas tu śrutvā vai bhāvitātmanām | ātmānugāmināṁ rājan śrāvayāmāsa vai tataḥ, teṣām akathayat sūryaḥ sarveṣāṁ bhāvitātmanām |
Bhīṣma dit : «Ô roi, le dieu Soleil, après avoir entendu ce récit sacré de la bouche de ces siddhas au for intérieur purifié, le récita ensuite aux grands voyants qui le suivent dans son cortège. Ainsi Sūrya proclama cette gloire divine à tous ces ascètes disciplinés et mûris spirituellement—ces ṛṣi qui furent engendrés pour marcher devant le Soleil ardent dans le monde.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sacred knowledge is preserved and made effective through purity and disciplined inner cultivation (bhāvitātman). Even a deity like Sūrya receives and then transmits the teaching in a lineage-like manner, emphasizing that spiritual truths are to be heard, internalized, and responsibly passed on.
Bhīṣma tells the king that Sūrya first heard a holy account from perfected sages and then recited it to the ascetics who accompany him. The passage highlights a chain of hearing and proclamation: sages → Sūrya → Sūrya’s attendant ṛṣis.