Puṣkara-Śapatha Itihāsa (Agastya–Indra Dispute at the Tīrthas) | पुष्कर-शपथ-आख्यानम्
भरद्वाज उवाच भरे5सुतान् भरेडशिष्यान् भरे देवान् भरे द्विजान् । भरे भार्या भरे द्वाजं भरद्वाजोडस्मि शोभने
bharadvāja uvāca | bhare sutān bhare śiṣyān bhare devān bhare dvijān | bhare bhāryāṃ bhare dvājān bharadvājo 'smi śobhane ||
バラドヴァージャは言った。「麗しき者よ。私は我が子らを養い、我が弟子らを養う。しかるべき供物によって神々を支え、正しい施しによって二度生まれし者たちを支える。妻をも養い、また『ドヴァージャ』(出自の混じる人々)と呼ばれる者たちをも養う。ゆえに、美しき者よ、私はバラドヴァージャと知られるのだ。」
भरद्वाज उवाच
The verse frames dharma as active support: a righteous person sustains not only one’s own family and students but also the wider sacred and social order—gods through offerings, the twice-born through proper giving, and even socially marginal or mixed-origin people—showing inclusive responsibility rather than narrow self-interest.
Bharadvāja speaks to a woman addressed as “śobhane,” explaining why he is called Bharadvāja: he ‘bears’ (bhare) the burden of maintaining many—sons, disciples, gods, Brahmins, his wife, and others—using a wordplay/etymology to present his identity as grounded in sustained duty.