Shloka 6
Chapter 84: Brahmā’s Counsel on Tāraka, the Search for Agni, and the Genesis of Skanda
Kārttikeya
अपि चात्र पुरागीतां कथयिष्यामि तेडनघ
api cātra purāgītāṃ kathayiṣyāmi te 'naghā | niṣpāpa nareśa | asmin viṣaye tvāṃ purā-vṛttāntaṃ śrāvayāmi | ekadā parama-buddhimān śukadevaḥ nitya-karmānuṣṭhānaṃ kṛtvā pavitraḥ śuddha-cittaś ca san, ṛṣi-śreṣṭhaṃ pitaraṃ śrī-kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyanaṃ vyāsaṃ, yaḥ lokasya bhūta-bhaviṣyat pratyakṣa-darśī, praṇamya papraccha— “pitāḥ! sarveṣu yajñeṣu kaḥ yajñaḥ śreṣṭhatamo dṛśyate?”
भीष्म म्हणाले— हे निष्पाप राजा! या विषयावर मी तुला एक प्राचीन आख्यायिका सांगतो. एकदा परम बुद्धिमान शुकदेवांनी नित्यकर्म आचरून शुद्ध व संयतचित्त होऊन, ऋषींमध्ये श्रेष्ठ आणि भूत-भविष्य प्रत्यक्ष पाहणारे श्रीकृष्णद्वैपायन व्यास यांना प्रणाम करून विचारले— “पिताजी! सर्व यज्ञांमध्ये कोणता यज्ञ सर्वोत्तम मानला जातो?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames ethical-ritual inquiry as requiring inner and outer purity: one performs one’s daily duties, approaches a worthy teacher with humility, and then asks about the hierarchy of dharmic acts—here, which yajña is truly supreme.
Bhīṣma begins an ‘ancient account’ for the king: Śukadeva, after completing his daily observances, bows to his father Vyāsa—described as a seer of past and future—and asks him which sacrifice is considered the greatest among all sacrifices.