Shloka 2
यत्र पूर्वाभिसर्गे वै धर्मचक्रं प्रवर्तितम् । नैमिषे गोमतीतीरे तत्र नागाह्नयं पुरम्
yatra pūrvābhisarge vai dharmacakraṁ pravartitam | naimiṣe gomatītīre tatra nāgāhnayaṁ puram, dvijaśreṣṭha |
Wahai yang terbaik antara para Brahmana, di tebing Sungai Gomati di Naimiṣa—tempat pada suatu kitaran penciptaan terdahulu Roda Dharma pernah digerakkan—berdirilah sebuah kota bernama Nāgāhnaya. Bait ini membangkitkan geografi suci: tempat yang dikenang sebagai tapak penegakan dharma dan kegiatan korban suci para dewa, lalu meneguhkan wacana seterusnya pada landasan yang berwibawa dan disucikan.
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is presented as an instituted, living order—‘the wheel’ set in motion in primordial times. By locating the teaching in a renowned tīrtha-region (Naimiṣa on the Gomati), the text implies that ethical instruction gains weight when rooted in remembered sites of ancient dharmic establishment and ritual authority.
A Brahmin speaker identifies a specific sacred location: on the Gomati at Naimiṣa there is a city named Nāgāhnaya, famed as a place where, in an earlier cosmic cycle, dharma was inaugurated. This functions as a scene-setting prelude for the discourse that follows.