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 ||
Гандхарва сказал: «Тот, чьи стопы вечно растирают два врага — Желание и Гнев, покорённые его подвижничеством, и кто властвует над чувствами, потому и зовётся Васиштхой (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.
Ask anything about this verse
Curious about the meaning, context, or a word? Ask, and continue the conversation in the Vedapath app.
A free Google sign-in keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Mahabharata in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.