Shloka 34

Bhīṣma on the Śara-Śayyā: Yudhiṣṭhira and Kṛṣṇa Approach the Eldest for Śānti

Devanagari script

प्रतिलोमप्रसूतानां वर्णानां चैव य: स्मृत:

Transliteration

pratilomaprasūtānāṃ varṇānāṃ caiva yaḥ smṛtaḥ | deśa-jāti-kula-dharmāṇāṃ lakṣaṇaṃ caiva vettha ha | vedeṣu pratipāditānāṃ śiṣṭaiś ca kathitānāṃ dharmāṇāṃ ca sadā vidvān asi ||

Translation

ವೈಶಂಪಾಯನನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—“ಪ್ರತಿಲೋಮ ಸಂಯೋಗಗಳಿಂದ ಹುಟ್ಟಿದ ವರ್ಣಗಳಿಗೂ, ಅದರಿಂದ ಉಂಟಾದ ವರ್ಣಸಂಕರರಿಗೂ ಸ್ಮೃತಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹೇಳಿರುವ ಆಚರಣಾ ನಿಯಮಗಳು ನಿನಗೆ ಅಪರಿಚಿತವಲ್ಲ. ದೇಶ, ಜಾತಿ, ಕುಲಗಳ ಧರ್ಮಗಳ ಲಕ್ಷಣಗಳನ್ನೂ ನೀನು ಸ್ಪಷ್ಟವಾಗಿ ತಿಳಿದಿರುವೆ. ವೇದಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರತಿಪಾದಿತವಾಗಿಯೂ, ಶಿಷ್ಟರ ವಚನ-ಆಚರಣಗಳಿಂದ ಸ್ಥಾಪಿತವಾಗಿಯೂ ಇರುವ ಧರ್ಮವನ್ನೂ ನೀನು ಬಹುಕಾಲದಿಂದಲೇ ಅರಿತಿರುವೆ।”

Word by Word

• प्रतिलोमप्रसूतानाम्: of those born from reverse (inter-varna) unions
• प्रतिलोमप्रसूतानाम्: Sambandha
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रतिलोम-प्रसूता
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• वर्णानाम्: of the varnas/classes
• वर्णानाम्: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर्ण
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• यः: which/that (dharma)
• यः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• स्मृतः: is remembered/declared (in tradition)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्मृ (धातु) → स्मृत (कृदन्त)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Veda
• Śiṣṭa (exemplary learned persons)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma is understood through multiple authorities: Vedic teaching, Smṛti prescriptions, and the lived guidance of śiṣṭas (exemplary learned people), along with contextual duties tied to region, community, and lineage.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana emphasizes the listener’s competence in dharma-discourse, noting that the person addressed already knows even complex social-legal categories (mixed classes and ‘reverse-order’ births) and the markers of customary duties, preparing the ground for further instruction in Śānti Parva.