Shloka 1

Anuśāsana-parva Adhyāya 112: Dharma as the sole companion; karmic witnesses; rebirth sequences

Bṛhaspati–Yudhiṣṭhira Saṃvāda

Devanagari script

नफमशा (0) आज अन+- अष्टाधिकशततमोब<् ध्याय: मानस तथा पार्थिव तीर्थकी महत्ता युधिछिर उवाच यद्‌ वरं सर्वतीर्थानां तन्मे ब्रूहि पितामह । यत्र चैव परं शौचं तन्मे व्याख्यातुमहसि

Transliteration

Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: yad varaṁ sarvatīrthānāṁ tan me brūhi pitāmaha | yatra caiva paraṁ śaucaṁ tan me vyākhyātum arhasi ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira disse: “Avô, diz-me qual é o melhor entre todos os lugares sagrados de peregrinação (tīrtha). E explica-me esse tīrtha, indo ao qual se alcança a mais alta pureza.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'yad', 'definition': 'which

• that which'}, {'term': 'varam', 'definition': 'best

• superior'}, {'term': 'sarva-tīrthānām', 'definition': 'of all tīrthas (sacred fords/pilgrimage places)'}, {'term': 'tat', 'definition': 'that'}, {'term': 'me', 'definition': 'to me

• for me'}, {'term': 'brūhi', 'definition': 'tell

• speak (imperative of √brū)'}, {'term': 'pitāmaha', 'definition': 'grandfather

• here, Bhīṣma'}, {'term': 'yatra', 'definition': 'where

• in which (place)'}, {'term': 'ca eva', 'definition': 'and indeed

• and precisely'}, {'term': 'param', 'definition': 'highest

• supreme'}, {'term': 'śaucaṁ', 'definition': 'purity

• inner and outer purification'}, {'term': 'vyākhyātum', 'definition': 'to explain

• to expound'}, {'term': 'arhasi', 'definition': 'you ought

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Pitāmaha (Bhīṣma)
• tīrtha (pilgrimage place, as a concept)
• śauca (purity, as a concept)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a dharmic inquiry: true religious practice seeks the ‘best’ means to purification, and it should be learned through respectful questioning of a qualified elder/teacher. It also hints that tīrtha is valued not merely as a place, but as a means toward inner and outer śauca.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instructional setting, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Bhīṣma as ‘Grandfather’ and asks him to identify and explain the foremost tīrtha—one that grants supreme purity—initiating a discourse on the greatness of sacred places and purification.