Shloka 35

Bhīṣma on the Śara-Śayyā: Yudhiṣṭhira and Kṛṣṇa Approach the Eldest for Śānti

Devanagari script

देशजातिकुलानां च जानीषे धर्मलक्षणम्‌ | वेदोक्तो यश्च शिष्टोक्त: सदैव विदितस्तव

Transliteration

deśa-jāti-kulānāṃ ca jānīṣe dharma-lakṣaṇam | vedokto yaś ca śiṣṭoktaḥ sadaiva viditas tava ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dit : « Tu comprends parfaitement les marques distinctives du dharma, telles qu’elles s’appliquent au pays, à la communauté et à la lignée. Et le dharma enseigné dans les Veda, comme celui qu’attestent les anciens cultivés et savants, t’est connu depuis longtemps. »

Word by Word

• {'deśa': 'region, country

• local area with its customs', 'jāti': 'birth-group/community

• social category', 'kula': 'family, lineage, clan', 'dharma': 'duty, law, righteous conduct

• sustaining order', 'lakṣaṇa': 'mark, characteristic, defining feature', 'jānīṣe': 'you know, you understand (2nd person singular, present)', 'veda-ukta': 'stated in the Veda

• scripturally enjoined', 'śiṣṭa-ukta': 'spoken by the śiṣṭas—cultured, exemplary authorities

• traditional learned consensus', 'sadaiva': 'always, at all times', 'vidita': 'known, understood', 'tava': 'to you/your'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Veda
• śiṣṭa (learned/exemplary elders)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma is recognized through multiple authoritative lenses: local practice (deśa), community norms (jāti), family/lineage traditions (kula), and overarching standards grounded in the Veda and affirmed by respected learned elders (śiṣṭas).

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana addresses a listener as someone already well-versed in dharma—both in its contextual forms (regional, communal, familial) and in its higher authorities (Vedic injunction and the guidance of exemplary tradition-bearers).