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

Bhishma bersabda: Ada tujuh prakṛti, dan yang kedelapan adalah Svāyambhuva (Brahmā). Oleh merekalah dunia ditegakkan, dan dari merekalah śāstra memancar.

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.