Shloka 39

Brāhmaṇa-mahattva and Atithi-Dharma

Brahmagītā: Praise of Brāhmaṇas and norms of honor

Devanagari script

इदं वृत्तं हि राजर्षेर्वृषदर्भस्य कीर्तयन्‌ । पूतात्मा वै भवेत्‌ लोके शृणुयाद्‌ यश्च नित्यश:

Transliteration

idaṃ vṛttaṃ hi rājarṣer vṛṣadarbhasya kīrtayan | pūtātmā vai bhavet loke śṛṇuyād yaś ca nityaśaḥ ||

Translation

ഹേ രാജർഷേ! രാജർഷി വൃഷദർഭന്റെ ഈ വൃത്താന്തം നിത്യമായി കീർത്തിക്കുന്നവനും, സ്ഥിരമായി ശ്രവിക്കുന്നവനും ഈ ലോകത്തിൽ തന്നെ പവിത്രാത്മാവാകുന്നു.

Word by Word

इदम्this

वृत्तम्account, event, narrative

हिindeed, for

राजर्षेःof the royal sage

वृषदर्भस्यof Vṛṣadarbha

कीर्तयन्praising, recounting

पूतात्माpure-souled

वैindeed, surely

भवेत्would become, may become

लोकेin the world

शृणुयात्would hear, should listen

यःwho

चand

नित्यशःalways, regularly

Speaker

श्येन उवाच

Characters & Entities

श

श्येन (Śyena)

व

वृषदर्भ (Vṛṣadarbha)

र

राजर्षि (royal sage)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Regularly narrating (kīrtana) or listening (śravaṇa) to a dharmic episode—here, the account of the royal sage Vṛṣadarbha—purifies one’s inner self (pūtātmā) even in this life, emphasizing moral transformation through engagement with righteous history.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śyena states the fruit (phalaśruti) of the preceding account: whoever continually recounts or hears the episode concerning the royal sage Vṛṣadarbha attains purification, marking the story as ethically efficacious when remembered, told, and heard.