Shloka 1373
धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)
पारम्पर्यागतं होतत् पित्रा मे कथितं पुरा । भीष्मजी कहते हैं--युधिष्ठिर! नारदजीका कहा हुआ यह सारा उपाख्यान मैंने तुमसे कह सुनाया। यह पूर्वपरम्परासे पहले मेरे पिताजीको प्राप्त हुआ। फिर पिताजीने मुझसे कहा था
pāramparyāgataṃ hy etat pitrā me kathitaṃ purā | bhīṣma uvāca—yudhiṣṭhira! nāradena proktaṃ etat sarvam upākhyānaṃ mayā tubhyaṃ kathitaṃ śrutam | etat pūrva-paramparayā prathamaṃ me pituḥ prāptam, tataḥ pitrā mayi proktam iti |
Bhishma berkata: “Wahai Yudhishthira, seluruh kisah ini telah kuceritakan kepadamu sebagaimana diucapkan oleh Narada. Ia sampai kepada ayahku melalui garis pewarisan kuno, lalu ayahku menyampaikannya kepadaku. Maka ajaran ini berdiri di atas tradisi yang tak terputus, bukan sekadar pendapat pribadi.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes the authority and reliability of dharmic instruction when it is preserved through paramparā (an unbroken tradition). Bhishma grounds his teaching not in personal invention but in a lineage of transmission: Narada → earlier tradition → Shantanu → Bhishma → Yudhishthira.
Bhishma concludes or frames an instructive episode by stating its provenance. He tells Yudhishthira that the entire upākhyāna he has narrated was originally spoken by Narada and reached Bhishma through his father, thereby authenticating the account as inherited wisdom.