Shloka 17

Devanagari script

न धर्मवचन वाचा नैव बुद्धयेति नः श्रुतम्‌ । इति बार्हस्पतं ज्ञानं प्रोवाच मघवा स्वयम्‌,हमने सुना है कि केवल वचनद्वारा अथवा केवल बुद्धि (तर्क) के द्वारा ही धर्मका निश्चय नहीं होता है, अपितु शास्त्रवचन और तर्क दोनोंके समुच्चयद्वारा उसका निर्णय होता है--यही बृहस्पतिका मत है, जिसे स्वयं इन्द्रने बताया है

Transliteration

na dharmavacana-vācā naiva buddhayeti naḥ śrutam | iti bārhaspataṃ jñānaṃ provāca maghavā svayam ||

Translation

Bhishma berkata: “Kami telah mendengar bahawa dharma tidak dapat diputuskan secara muktamad dengan kata-kata semata-mata, dan juga bukan dengan akal (hujah) semata-mata. Inilah ajaran Bṛhaspati: dharma ditentukan melalui gabungan kesaksian śāstra dan penyelidikan beralasan—demikian diisytiharkan oleh Maghavā (Indra) sendiri.”

Word by Word

• {'na': 'not', 'dharma': 'righteousness

• right order', 'vacana': 'statement

• authoritative utterance (often scriptural or traditional)', 'vācā': 'by speech

• eloquence', 'naiva': 'not even

• nor indeed', 'buddhayā (buddhi)': 'by intellect

• rational faculty', 'iti': 'thus

• in this manner', 'naḥ': 'by us

• for us', 'śrutam': 'heard

• received tradition', 'bārhaspatam': 'belonging to Bṛhaspati

• Bṛhaspati’s', 'jñānam': 'knowledge

• teaching', 'provāca': 'said

• proclaimed', 'maghavā': 'Maghavān, an epithet of Indra', 'svayam': 'himself

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Brihaspati
• Indra (Maghavān)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma cannot be fixed by rhetoric alone or by abstract reasoning alone; it is best discerned by integrating authoritative teaching (śāstra/tradition) with rational examination (buddhi/yukti).

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhishma cites a doctrinal position attributed to Bṛhaspati and affirmed by Indra, emphasizing a balanced method for judging dharma.