Shloka 114

धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)

Devanagari script

पितामहो<5पि भगवांस्तस्माद्‌ देवादनन्तर:

Transliteration

pitāmaho 'pi bhagavāṁs tasmād devād anantaraḥ

Translation

Disse Yudhiṣṭhira: “Até mesmo o venerável Avô (Brahmā), embora divino, ocupa imediatamente o posto seguinte àquele deus.”

Word by Word

• पितामहः: the grandsire (Brahmā/Grandfather)
• पितामहः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितामह
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अपि: also/even
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• भगवान्: the blessed/lordly one
• भगवान्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भगवत्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तस्मात्: from him/therefore/from that
• तस्मात्: Apadana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Ablative, Singular

• देवात्: from the god
• देवात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: देव
• Form: Masculine, Ablative, Singular

• अनन्तरः: next/without interval/immediately following
• अनन्तरः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनन्तर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Pitāmaha (Bhīṣma)
• Deva (a god; unspecified in this half-verse)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line emphasizes ethical reverence and graded excellence: even a supremely venerable elder like Bhīṣma is spoken of in relation to a higher divine standard, suggesting that dharmic evaluation recognizes both human greatness and a transcendent benchmark.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction-setting, Yudhiṣṭhira is speaking about relative rank or precedence—placing Pitāmaha (Bhīṣma) immediately after a particular deity—within a broader discussion of dharma, authority, and exemplary figures.