Shloka 88
Puṣkara-Śapatha Itihāsa (Agastya–Indra Dispute at the Tīrthas) | पुष्कर-शपथ-आख्यानम्
भरद्वाज उवाच भरे5सुतान् भरेडशिष्यान् भरे देवान् भरे द्विजान् । भरे भार्या भरे द्वाजं भरद्वाजोडस्मि शोभने
bharadvāja uvāca | bhare sutān bhare śiṣyān bhare devān bhare dvijān | bhare bhāryāṃ bhare dvājān bharadvājo 'smi śobhane ||
भरद्वाज बोले—कल्याणी! मैं अपने पुत्रों का पालन करता हूँ, शिष्यों का भी; यज्ञादि द्वारा देवताओं का भी पोषण करता हूँ और दानादि से द्विजों का भी। मैं अपनी धर्मपत्नी का तथा ‘द्वाज’ (वर्णसंकर) कहे जाने वालों का भी भरण-पोषण करता हूँ; इसीलिए, शोभने, मैं भरद्वाज नाम से प्रसिद्ध हूँ।
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames dharma as active support: a righteous person sustains not only one’s own family and students but also the wider sacred and social order—gods through offerings, the twice-born through proper giving, and even socially marginal or mixed-origin people—showing inclusive responsibility rather than narrow self-interest.
Bharadvāja speaks to a woman addressed as “śobhane,” explaining why he is called Bharadvāja: he ‘bears’ (bhare) the burden of maintaining many—sons, disciples, gods, Brahmins, his wife, and others—using a wordplay/etymology to present his identity as grounded in sustained duty.