Shloka 88
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 ||
ಭರದ್ವಾಜನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ಕಲ್ಯಾಣಿ! ನಾನು ನನ್ನ ಪುತ್ರರನ್ನು ಪೋಷಿಸುತ್ತೇನೆ, ಶಿಷ್ಯರನ್ನೂ; ಯಜ್ಞಾದಿಗಳ ಮೂಲಕ ದೇವತೆಗಳನ್ನು ತೃಪ್ತಿಪಡಿಸುತ್ತೇನೆ ಮತ್ತು ದಾನಧರ್ಮದಿಂದ ದ್ವಿಜರನ್ನೂ ಧರಿಸುತ್ತೇನೆ. ನನ್ನ ಪತ್ನಿಯನ್ನೂ, ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ‘ದ್ವಾಜ’ (ವರ್ಣಸಂಕರರು) ಎಂದು ಕರೆಯಲ್ಪಡುವವರನ್ನೂ ಪೋಷಿಸುತ್ತೇನೆ; ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ, ಓ ಶೋಭನೆ, ನಾನು ಭರದ್ವಾಜನೆಂದು ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ಧನು.
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.