Shloka 2
यत्र पूर्वाभिसर्गे वै धर्मचक्रं प्रवर्तितम् । नैमिषे गोमतीतीरे तत्र नागाह्नयं पुरम्
yatra pūrvābhisarge vai dharmacakraṁ pravartitam | naimiṣe gomatītīre tatra nāgāhnayaṁ puram, dvijaśreṣṭha |
婆羅門のうち最勝なる者よ、ゴーマティー河のほとり、ナイミシャの地—かつての創造の一周期においてダルマの法輪が転じ始められたその場所—に、「ナーガーハナヤ」と名づけられた都がある。この偈は聖なる地勢を呼び起こす。すなわち、法の樹立と神々の祭祀が行われた古き霊地として記憶され、これより続く論説を権威ある清浄の場に据えるのである。
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is presented as an instituted, living order—‘the wheel’ set in motion in primordial times. By locating the teaching in a renowned tīrtha-region (Naimiṣa on the Gomati), the text implies that ethical instruction gains weight when rooted in remembered sites of ancient dharmic establishment and ritual authority.
A Brahmin speaker identifies a specific sacred location: on the Gomati at Naimiṣa there is a city named Nāgāhnaya, famed as a place where, in an earlier cosmic cycle, dharma was inaugurated. This functions as a scene-setting prelude for the discourse that follows.