Shanti Parva Adhyaya 350 Shloka 15 - Mahabharata | Malayalam | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 15

Āścarya-kathana: Brāhmaṇa–Nāga Dialogue on Sūrya (Vivasvat) and the ‘Second Sun’ Phenomenon

Devanagari script

वैखानसा: फेनपेभ्यो धर्म त॑ प्रतिपेदिरे । वैखानसे भ्य: सोमस्तु ततः सोडच्तर्दथे पुन:,फेनपोंसे वैखानसोंने उस धर्मको उपलब्ध किया। उनसे सोमने उसे ग्रहण किया। तदनन्तर वह धर्म फिर लुप्त हो गया

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca: Vaikhānasāḥ Phenapebhyo dharmaṃ taṃ pratipedire | Vaikhānasebhyaḥ Somaḥ tu tataḥ so 'dattārthaṃ punaḥ; tato dharmaḥ punar luptaḥ |

Translation

വൈശമ്പായനൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഫേനപന്മാരിൽ നിന്ന് വൈഖാനസർ ആ ധർമ്മം കൈപ്പറ്റി; വൈഖാനസരിൽ നിന്ന് സോമൻ അതു സ്വീകരിച്ചു; അതിനുശേഷം ആ ധർമ്മം വീണ്ടും അന്തർഹിതമായി.

Word by Word

वैखानसाःthe Vaikhānasas (a class of sages/ascetics)

फेनपेभ्यःfrom the Phenapas

धर्मम्dharma, the law/duty

तत्that (dharma)

प्रतिपेदिरेobtained, came to possess

वैखानसेभ्यःfrom the Vaikhānasas

सोमःSoma

तुbut/indeed

ततःthereafter, then

सःhe/it (that dharma)

धर्मःdharma

पुनःagain

अन्तर्धेdisappeared, became hidden

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Vaikhānasa

Phenapa

Soma

Dharma

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?

Dharma is preserved through disciplined transmission and lived practice within qualified lineages; when custodianship weakens, even sacred ethical knowledge can lapse and become 'lost' again.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana recounts a chain of transmission: the Vaikhānasas receive dharma from the Phenapas; Soma then receives it from the Vaikhānasas; afterward, that dharma disappears once more, indicating a recurring cycle of preservation and decline.