Mahabharata 1.174.6 — Adi Parva, Adhyaya 174, Shloka 6
Dhaumya-varaṇa (Appointment of Dhaumya as Purohita) | धौम्यवरणम्
कामक्रोधावुभौ यस्य चरणौ संववाहतु: । इन्द्रियाणां वशकरो वसिष्ठ इति चोच्यते
kāmakrodhāv ubhau yasya caraṇau saṃvāhataḥ | indriyāṇāṃ vaśakaro vasiṣṭha iti cocyate ||
Disse o Gandharva: “Aquele cujos pés são para sempre massageados pelos dois inimigos—Desejo e Ira—subjugados por sua austeridade, e que tem domínio sobre os sentidos, por isso é chamado Vasiṣṭha.”
गन्धर्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
Greatness is defined by mastery over one’s senses and inner enemies. When desire (kāma) and anger (krodha) are subdued through tapas and discipline, they become powerless—symbolically reduced to serving at the sage’s feet.
A Gandharva is describing the sage Vasiṣṭha and explaining why he is renowned: his austerity and self-mastery have defeated even the formidable forces of desire and anger, so he is celebrated as ‘Vasiṣṭha,’ the excellent one who controls the senses.
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