Shloka 1
अध्याय २०८ — इन्द्रियनिग्रहः, सत्याहिंसात्मकवाक्, कर्मफलविवेकः
Restraint of the Senses, Non-harming Truthful Speech, and Discernment of Karmic Consequence
ऑपन-- मा बछ। अ<-छऋाज - पुरुष (श्रीकृष्ण) ही यह सब कुछ हैं। अष्टाधिकद्विशततमो< ध्याय: ब्रह्माके पुत्र मरीचि आदि प्रजापतियोंके वंशका तथा प्रत्येक दिशामें निवास करनेवाले महर्षियोंका वर्णन युधिछिर उवाच के पूर्वमासन् पतय: प्रजानां भरतर्षभ । के चर्षयो महाभागा दिक्षु प्रत्येकश: स्मृता:,युधिष्ठिरने पूछा--भरतश्रेष्ठ! पूर्वकालमें कौन-कौन-से लोग प्रजापति थे और प्रत्येक दिशामें किन-किन महाभाग महर्षियोंकी स्थिति मानी गयी है
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
pūrvam āsan patayaḥ prajānāṃ bharatarṣabha |
ke cārṣayo mahābhāgā dikṣu pratyekaśaḥ smṛtāḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira perguntou: “Ó touro entre os Bhāratas, quem foram, nos tempos antigos, os senhores e os Prajāpatis, progenitores dos seres? E quais grandes rishis, bem-aventurados e ilustres, são lembrados pela tradição como habitantes de cada uma das direções, uma a uma?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharmic inquiry: rightful governance and ethical life are grounded in knowledge of cosmic order—who the primordial progenitors are and how the seer-tradition is situated across the world’s directions.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction setting, Yudhiṣṭhira asks the elder teacher (addressed as ‘Bharatarṣabha’) to enumerate the ancient Prajāpatis and the great ṛṣis associated with each direction, preparing for a cosmological and genealogical exposition.