Shloka 37
धर्मद्वारबहुत्वविमर्शः — Reflection on the Many ‘Doors’ of Dharma (Śānti-parva 342)
भक्तं प्रति विशेषस्ते एष पार्थनुकीर्तित: । त्वं चैवाहं च कौन्तेय नरनारायणौ स्मृती
bhaktaṃ prati viśeṣas te eṣa pārthanukīrtitaḥ | tvaṃ caivāhaṃ ca kaunteya naranārāyaṇau smṛtī ||
Arjuna berkata: “Perbezaan sikap-Mu terhadap seorang pengikut yang berbakti kini telah dinyatakan dengan jelas, wahai keturunan Prithā. Dan engkau serta aku, wahai putera Kuntī, dikenang dalam tradisi sebagai Nara dan Nārāyaṇa.”
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse affirms that devotion (bhakti) draws a special response or favor from the divine, and it links that teaching to sacred memory by identifying the speaker and the addressed figure with the archetypal pair Nara–Nārāyaṇa, suggesting a dharmic partnership of human striving (Nara) and divine guidance (Nārāyaṇa).
Arjuna responds to an explanation about how the Lord relates distinctively to devotees, acknowledging that point, and then recalls the traditional identification of himself and the Lord as Nara and Nārāyaṇa—an assertion of their enduring, dharma-centered association across ages.