Shloka 8
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 178 — Royal Contestants Assemble; Cosmic Witnesses; The Bow Remains Unstrung
मन्यसे यं तु तातेति नैष तातस्तवानघ । आर्य एष पिता तस्य पितुस्तव यशस्विन:,“अनघ! तुम जिन्हें तात मानते हो, ये तुम्हारे तात नहीं हैं। ये तो तुम्हारे यशस्वी पिताके भी पूजनीय पिता हैं!
manyase yaṃ tu tāteti naiṣa tātastavānagha | ārya eṣa pitā tasya pitustava yaśasvinaḥ ||
The Gandharva said: “Blameless one, the man you address as ‘father’ is not your father. He is, rather, the venerable father of your own illustrious father.”
गन्धर्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse stresses truthful recognition of relationships and the ethical duty to accord proper reverence according to lineage—one should not misidentify elders, and nobility (ārya) is linked with rightful respect.
A Gandharva corrects the addressee’s assumption about who his ‘father’ is, revealing that the person being called ‘tāta’ is actually the revered father of the addressee’s own famous father—i.e., a grandfather figure—thereby clarifying genealogy and status.