Shloka 16
Bhīṣma Parva, Adhyāya 4 — Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Vyāsa Saṃvāda on Kāla and Jayalakṣaṇa
Signs of Victory
य एतां वेद गायत्री पुण्यां सर्वगुणान्विताम् । तत्त्वेन भरतश्रेष्ठ स लोके न प्रणश्यति,भरतश्रेष्ठ] जो लोकमें स्थित इस सर्वगुणसम्पन्न पुण्यमयी गायत्रीको यथार्थरूपसे जानता है, वह कभी नष्ट नहीं होता
ya etāṁ veda gāyatrīṁ puṇyāṁ sarvaguṇānvitām | tattvena bharataśreṣṭha sa loke na praṇaśyati ||
Sañjaya said: O best of the Bharatas, whoever truly knows this holy Gāyatrī—endowed with every excellence—does not perish in this world. The verse upholds inner knowledge and disciplined understanding as a safeguard of one’s spiritual continuity amid the fragility of worldly life.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
True, reality-grounded knowledge of the sacred Gāyatrī—understood as a purifying, virtue-bearing spiritual principle—prevents one’s ruin; it points to inner discipline and right understanding as the basis of enduring well-being.
Sañjaya, narrating to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, inserts a doctrinal assurance: he addresses him as ‘best of the Bharatas’ and states that one who genuinely knows the Gāyatrī does not perish, framing spiritual knowledge as a stabilizing force amid the larger war narrative.