Mahabharata (Gita Press) 1.2.175 - Adi Parva, Adhyaya 2, Shloka 175
समन्तपञ्चक-आख्यानम् तथा अक्षौहिणी-प्रमाणनिर्णयः
Samantapañcaka Narrative and the Measure of an Akṣauhiṇī
नैयायिकानां मुख्येन वरुणस्यात्मजेन च । पराजितो यत्र बन्दी विवादेन महात्मना
naiyāyikānāṁ mukhyena varuṇasyātmajena ca | parājito yatra bandī vivādena mahātmanā ||
Di sini diceritakan bahawa Bandī—ketua dalam kalangan Naiyāyika dan putera Varuṇa—telah ditewaskan dalam perdebatan rasmi oleh seorang resi yang berjiwa agung. Petikan ini merujuk kepada episod Aṣṭāvakra di korban Raja Janaka, di mana ilmu diuji bukan demi kesombongan, tetapi untuk memulihkan keadilan: dengan mengatasi Bandī, Aṣṭāvakra menyelamatkan ayahandanya yang telah dicampakkan ke laut, memperlihatkan bahawa kebijaksanaan sejati berkhidmat kepada dharma dan perlindungan orang yang tidak bersalah.
राम उवाच
Educational Q&A
Learning and logic are meant to uphold dharma: true scholarship is measured by its commitment to justice and compassion, not by pride in victory. Aṣṭāvakra’s triumph in debate becomes an act of restoration—freeing the wronged and correcting abuse of intellectual power.
The text alludes to the episode where Bandī, a renowned logician and Varuṇa’s son, is defeated in disputation by the great sage Aṣṭāvakra at Janaka’s sacrifice. After defeating Bandī, Aṣṭāvakra is able to recover his father, who had been cast into the sea.
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free Google sign-in keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Mahabharata (Gita Press) in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.