Mahabharata 3.201.91 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 201, Shloka 91
Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)
वेदाढ्या वृत्तसम्पन्ना ज्ञानवन्तस्तपस्विन: । यत्र तिष्ठन्ति वै विप्रास्तन्नाम नगरं नूप,राजन! वेदज्ञ, सदाचारी, ज्ञानी और तपस्वी ब्राह्मण जहाँ निवास करते हों, उसीका नाम नगर है
vedāḍhyā vṛttasampannā jñānavantas tapasvinaḥ | yatra tiṣṭhanti vai viprās tan nāma nagaraṃ nūpa-rājan ||
हे नूपराजा! जिथे वेदसमृद्ध, सदाचारी, ज्ञानी आणि तपस्वी विप्र निवास करतात, त्यालाच खरे ‘नगर’ म्हणतात.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
A community’s true status is measured not by buildings or wealth but by the presence of learned, ethical, and disciplined people—especially Brahmin sages who preserve Vedic knowledge and exemplify right conduct.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a king (called ‘nūpa-rājan’) and offers a normative definition of a ‘city’: it is genuinely a nagara only where Veda-knowing, virtuous, wise, and ascetic Brahmins live.
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