Shloka 1273
एवमेतत् पुरा विप्रै:ः कथामृतमिहोद्धृतम् । युधिष्ठिर! जैसे देवताओं और असुरोंने समुद्रको मथकर उससे अमृत निकाला था, उसी प्रकार प्राचीनकालमें ब्राह्मणोंने सारे शास्त्रोंकी मथकर इस अमृतमयी कथाको यहाँ प्रकाशित किया
evam etat purā vipraiḥ kathāmṛtam iha uddhṛtam | yudhiṣṭhira! yathā devatā-asuraiḥ samudraṃ mathitvā tasmād amṛtaṃ nītam, tathā prācīnakāle brāhmaṇaiḥ sarvaśāstrāṇi mathitvā iyam amṛtamayī kathā iha prakāśitā |
「まことにそのとおりだ。ユディシュティラよ、いにしえ、賢仙たちはここに甘露のごとき物語を汲み出した。かつて神々とアスラが大海を攪拌してアムリタ（不死の甘露）を得たように、古のバラモンたちもまた諸シャーストラ全体を攪拌し、この甘露を本質とする物語をここに顕したのである。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
That the highest ethical and spiritual instruction is not accidental: it is the distilled essence of the entire śāstric tradition, extracted through disciplined inquiry—like nectar obtained by churning. The listener is urged to value the teaching as a concentrated, life-guiding ‘amṛta’ rather than mere entertainment.
Bhīṣma addresses Yudhiṣṭhira and frames the discourse as an ‘ambrosial’ story drawn out by ancient sages. He uses the famous image of gods and asuras churning the ocean for amṛta to explain how brāhmaṇas similarly ‘churned’ all scriptures to bring forth this teaching for the world.