Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 156 Shloka 44 - Mahabharata | Sanskrit | Vedapath

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Shloka 44

Devanagari script

स्रष्टार: सर्वभूतानां कीर्तिता लोकपावना: । संवर्तो मेरुसावर्णो मार्कण्डेयश्व धार्मिक:

Transliteration

sraṣṭāraḥ sarvabhūtānāṁ kīrtitā lokapāvanāḥ | saṁvarto merusāvarṇo mārkaṇḍeyaś ca dhārmikaḥ ||

Translation

स्रष्टारः सर्वभूतानां कीर्तिता लोकपावनाः । संवर्तो मेरुसावर्णो मार्कण्डेयश्च धार्मिकः ॥

Word by Word

स्रष्टारःcreators

सर्वभूतानाम्of all beings

कीर्तिताःare proclaimed/celebrated

लोकपावनाःpurifiers of the world

संवर्तःSamvarta (name of a sage)

मेरुसावर्णःMerusavarṇa (name of a sage)

मार्कण्डेयःMārkaṇḍeya (name of a sage)

चand

धार्मिकःrighteous

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Saṁvarta

Merusāvarṇi

Mārkaṇḍeya

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse elevates certain sages as ‘world-purifiers’ and ‘creators of beings,’ implying that spiritual discipline, righteousness, and realized wisdom are forces that sustain and cleanse society and the cosmos—an ethical model where dharma is upheld through tapas and exemplary conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhishma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma. Here he begins (or continues) a list praising eminent ṛṣis, naming Saṁvarta, Merusāvarṇi, and Mārkaṇḍeya as renowned, righteous figures whose sanctity is said to purify the worlds.