Shloka 15
युधिष्ठिरप्रश्नः—विश्वामित्रस्य ब्राह्मणत्वकौतूहलम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry on Viśvāmitra’s Attainment of Brāhmaṇya
ध्रुवस्यौत्तानपादस्य ब्रद्मर्षीणां तथैव च । मध्यं ज्वलति यो नित्यमुदीचीमाश्रितो दिशम्
dhruvasyauttānapādasya brahmarṣīṇāṁ tathaiva ca | madhyaṁ jvalati yo nityam udīcīm āśrito diśam ||
युधिष्ठिर उवाच—उत्तानपादपुत्रो ध्रुवो योऽसौ ब्रह्मर्षीणां मध्ये उदङ्मुखीं दिशमाश्रित्य नित्यं तारारूपेण ज्वलति, स तु क्षत्रिय एवाभवत्। कुरुनन्दन, तस्यैतानि चान्यानि च बहून्यद्भुतकर्माणि स्मृत्वा मम हृदये कौतूहलं जातं—कथं स ब्राह्मणत्वं प्राप?
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse raises an ethical and social inquiry central to dharma: whether spiritual attainment and recognized sanctity (as with Dhruva’s cosmic exaltation) can transcend or transform birth-based identity (kṣatriya vs. brāhmaṇa). It frames varṇa not merely as heredity but as a topic to be examined through conduct, merit, and tradition.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a revered interlocutor (implied by “Kuru-nandana” in the surrounding context) and points to Dhruva’s well-known celestial position in the northern sky among the sages’ stars. Remembering Dhruva’s extraordinary deeds, he expresses curiosity about how Dhruva—known as a kṣatriya by birth—came to be spoken of as a brāhmaṇa.