Shloka 7

Devanagari script

कर्तृत्वाच्चापि सर्गाणां सर्गधर्मा तथोच्यते । कर्तृत्वाच्चापि योगानां योगधर्मा तथोच्यते,वह अपनेको सृष्टिका कर्ता माननेके कारण सर्गधर्मा कहलाता है और योगका कर्ता माननेसे योगधर्मा कहा जाता है

Transliteration

kartṛtvāccāpi sargāṇāṃ sargadharmā tathocyate | kartṛtvāccāpi yogānāṃ yogadharmā tathocyate ||

Translation

सृष्टीचा कर्ता आपणच आहोत असे मानल्यामुळे तो ‘सर्गधर्मा’ म्हणविला जातो; आणि योगसाधनेचा कर्ता आपणच आहोत असे मानल्यामुळे तो ‘योगधर्मा’ही म्हणविला जातो.

Word by Word

कर्तृत्वात्from/because of agency (doership)

चand

अपिalso/even

सर्गाणाम्of creations/emanations

सर्गधर्माone whose nature is creation / having the property of creation

तथाthus/so

उच्यतेis said/called

कर्तृत्वात्from/because of agency (doership)

चand

अपिalso/even

योगानाम्of yogas/means of union (disciplines)

योगधर्माone whose nature is yoga / having the property of yoga

तथाthus/so

उच्यतेis said/called

Speaker

याज़्वल्क्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yājñavalkya

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?

The verse teaches that when one identifies oneself as the agent (kartā) of actions, one’s ‘dharma’ gets described according to that assumed agency—whether as creation-oriented (sarga-dharma) or yoga-oriented (yoga-dharma). It highlights how notions of doership shape ethical and spiritual self-understanding.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instructional discourse, Yājñavalkya is explaining categories of dharma by linking them to the belief ‘I am the doer.’ He distinguishes dharma connected with creating/producing (sarga) and dharma connected with yogic practice (yoga), showing how each label arises from the same root idea of agency.