Shloka 6
अध्याय ९० — लोमशोपदेशः तथा तीर्थयात्रानिश्चयः
Lomaśa’s Counsel and the Resolve for Pilgrimage
एतस्मिन्नेव चार्थेडसाविन्द्रगीता युधिष्ठिर गाथा चरति लोकेडस्मिन् गीयमाना द्विजातिभि:,युधिष्ठिर! इसी विषयमें इन्द्रकी गायी हुई एक गाथा लोकमें प्रचलित है, जिसे ब्राह्मण गाया करते हैं
etasminn eva cārthe ’sāv indragītā yudhiṣṭhira gāthā carati loke ’smin gīyamānā dvijātibhiḥ
On this very matter, O Yudhiṣṭhira, there circulates in the world a well-known verse called the ‘Indra-gītā’—a traditional saying attributed to Indra—sung and preserved by the twice-born. By invoking it, Dhaumya signals that the counsel he is about to convey is not merely personal opinion but an established ethical teaching handed down in sacred memory.
धौम्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames the forthcoming advice as an established dharmic maxim: true ethical guidance is preserved and validated through respected tradition (here, a gāthā attributed to Indra) and transmitted by learned reciters, not invented ad hoc.
Dhaumya addresses Yudhiṣṭhira and introduces a well-known traditional stanza called the Indragītā, indicating that he will support his counsel with an authoritative, widely remembered teaching sung by the twice-born.