Shloka 1273
धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)
एवमेतत् पुरा विप्रै:ः कथामृतमिहोद्धृतम् । युधिष्ठिर! जैसे देवताओं और असुरोंने समुद्रको मथकर उससे अमृत निकाला था, उसी प्रकार प्राचीनकालमें ब्राह्मणोंने सारे शास्त्रोंकी मथकर इस अमृतमयी कथाको यहाँ प्रकाशित किया
evam etat purā vipraiḥ kathāmṛtam iha uddhṛtam | yudhiṣṭhira! yathā devatā-asuraiḥ samudraṃ mathitvā tasmād amṛtaṃ nītam, tathā prācīnakāle brāhmaṇaiḥ sarvaśāstrāṇi mathitvā iyam amṛtamayī kathā iha prakāśitā |
“Assim é. Em tempos antigos, ó Yudhiṣṭhira, os sábios fizeram surgir aqui esta narrativa semelhante ao néctar. Assim como deuses e asuras outrora bateram o oceano e dele extraíram a amṛta, do mesmo modo os brāhmaṇas de antigamente bateram a totalidade das escrituras e tornaram manifesta aqui esta história—néctar em sua essência.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
That the highest ethical and spiritual instruction is not accidental: it is the distilled essence of the entire śāstric tradition, extracted through disciplined inquiry—like nectar obtained by churning. The listener is urged to value the teaching as a concentrated, life-guiding ‘amṛta’ rather than mere entertainment.
Bhīṣma addresses Yudhiṣṭhira and frames the discourse as an ‘ambrosial’ story drawn out by ancient sages. He uses the famous image of gods and asuras churning the ocean for amṛta to explain how brāhmaṇas similarly ‘churned’ all scriptures to bring forth this teaching for the world.