Shloka 21

Devanagari script

धर्मात्मा तात सर्वज्ञ: पारावर्येण निर्णये । अमर्त्य इव मर्त्य: सन्नेष प्राणानधारयत्‌,तात! ये धर्मात्मा और सर्वज्ञ हैं। परलोक और इहलोकसम्बन्धी ज्ञानद्वारा सभी आध्यात्मिक प्रश्नोंका निर्णय करनेमें समर्थ हैं तथा मनुष्य होनेपर भी देवताके तुल्य हैं; इन्होंने अभीतक अपने प्राण धारण कर रखे हैं

Transliteration

dharmātmā tāta sarvajñaḥ pārāvaryeṇa nirṇaye | amartya iva martyaḥ sann eṣa prāṇān adhārayat, tāta ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “Dear child, this man is righteous in spirit and all-knowing. By his discernment of both ‘this shore and the far shore’—the matters of this world and the next—he is capable of settling spiritual questions. Though human, he is like an immortal; and even now, dear one, he has continued to sustain his life-breath.”

Word by Word

धर्मात्माrighteous-souled

तातdear one / son (term of address)

सर्वज्ञःall-knowing

पारावर्येणby knowledge of the beyond-and-this-world (otherworldly and worldly matters)

निर्णयेin decision / in determining

अमर्त्यःan immortal (a god)

इवlike / as if

मर्त्यःa mortal (man)

सन्being

एषःthis (person)

प्राणान्life-breaths / life

अधारयत्held / sustained

तातdear one (address)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True authority in ethical and spiritual matters is portrayed as a union of dharma (righteous character) and comprehensive discernment spanning both worldly and otherworldly concerns; such a person, though mortal, is revered as godlike.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, addressing a listener affectionately as “tāta,” praises a particular figure’s righteousness and all-knowing discernment, emphasizing that despite being human he appears like an immortal and has, up to this moment, continued to sustain his life.