Shloka 120
Adhyāya 90: Babhruvāhana’s Reception and the Commencement of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Aśvamedha
अद्रोह: सर्वभूतेषु संतोष: शीलमार्जवम् | तपो दमश्न सत्यं च प्रदानं चेति सम्मितम्
adrohaḥ sarvabhūteṣu santoṣaḥ śīlam ārjavam | tapo damaś ca satyaṃ ca pradānaṃ ceti sammitam |
वैशम्पायन उवाच—अद्रोहः सर्वभूतेषु सन्तोषः शीलमार्जवम्। तपो दमश्च सत्यं च प्रदानं चेति सम्मितम्॥ एतेषामेकैकं गुणं महायज्ञसमं विदुः।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that inner moral disciplines—non-hostility to all beings, contentment, good character, straightforwardness, austerity, self-restraint, truthfulness, and righteous charity—are each as spiritually efficacious as performing grand ritual sacrifices, emphasizing ethical living as a form of yajña.
Vaiśampāyana, in his ongoing narration of the Ashvamedhika Parva, presents a didactic list of dharmic virtues, reframing ‘sacrifice’ from external ritual grandeur to internal ethical practice and daily conduct.