Shloka 22
Nāga–Nāgabhāryā Saṃvāda: Varṇa-Dharma, Gṛhastha-Discipline, and Mokṣa-Self-Inquiry
Mahābhārata 12.347
नास्ति मत्तोडधिक: ककश्षित् को वान्यो<र्च्यो मया स्वयम् । को वा मम पिता लोके अहमेव पितामह:
nāsti matto ’dhikaḥ kaścit ko vānyo ’rcyo mayā svayam | ko vā mama pitā loke aham eva pitāmahaḥ ||
नारद म्हणाले—माझ्यापेक्षा श्रेष्ठ कोणी नाही; मग दुसरा कोण, ज्याची मी स्वतः पूजा करीन? जगात माझा पिता कोण? मीच पितामह आहे.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the danger of unchecked ego: claiming unsurpassed greatness and self-sufficiency erodes humility and dharmic conduct. It functions as a caution that self-worship and denial of any higher authority lead to ethical blindness.
Nārada speaks in a tone of absolute self-exaltation—asserting no one is above him, that he has no one to worship, and that he is the ultimate ancestor. In context, such a declaration typically serves to expose or critique arrogance as part of a broader moral instruction in Śānti Parva.