Shloka 89
बक-गौतमाख्यानम् / The Baka–Gautama Account
On Gratitude and Friendship Ethics
सर्वथैतदिदं श्रुत्वा खड्गसाधनमुत्तमम् । लभते पुरुष: कीर्ति प्रेत्य चानन्त्यमश्लुते
sarvathaitad idaṃ śrutvā khaḍgasādhanam uttamam | labhate puruṣaḥ kīrtiṃ pretya cānantyam aśnute ||
सर्वथैतदिदं श्रुत्वा खड्गसाधनमुत्तमम् । लभते पुरुषः कीर्तिं प्रेत्य चानन्त्यमश्नुते ॥ एतत् खड्गविषयमुत्तमं साधनं यः सर्वथा सम्यक् शृणोति, स लोके कीर्तिं लभते; देहान्ते चानन्तं (अक्षयं) कल्याणं प्राप्नोति।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches that attentive reception of a superior, dharma-aligned instruction—here framed as the ‘discipline/method of the sword’—yields two fruits: worldly honor (kīrti) and an imperishable posthumous attainment (ānantya).
In Śānti Parva’s didactic setting, Bhīṣma concludes or reinforces an instructional passage: he states the benefits that accrue to a listener who fully hears the excellent teaching on khaḍgasādhana—renown in life and an endless blessed state after death.