Shanti Parva Adhyaya 336 Shloka 53 - Mahabharata | Sanskrit | Vedapath

Vyasa

Shloka 53

एकान्तिधर्म-प्रश्नः (Inquiry into Ekāntin Dharma) / The Origin and Practice of Single-Pointed Nārāyaṇa-Centered Discipline

Devanagari script

ततस्ते लोकपितर: सर्वलोकार्थचिन्तका: । प्रावर्तयन्त तच्छास्त्रं धर्मयोनिं सनातनम्‌

Transliteration

tataste lokapitarḥ sarvalokārthacintakāḥ | prāvartayanta tacchāstraṃ dharmayoniṃ sanātanam ||

Translation

ततस्ते लोकपितरः सर्वलोकार्थचिन्तकाः। प्रावर्तयन्त तच्छास्त्रं धर्मयोनिं सनातनम्॥

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

तेthose

लोकपितरःfathers of the worlds (Prajapatis)

सर्वलोकार्थचिन्तकाःthinking of the welfare of all worlds

प्रावर्तयन्set in motion, promulgated

तत्that

शास्त्रम्treatise, scripture

धर्मयोनिम्having dharma as its source/origin; source of dharma

सनातनम्eternal, ancient

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Prajāpatis (Lokapitaraḥ)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma is not presented as a private preference but as an eternal, authoritative śāstra meant for the welfare of all; the world’s progenitors actively promulgate it so that society and cosmic order may be sustained.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma describes how the Prajāpatis—called the ‘Fathers of the worlds’—after considering the good of all beings, disseminate an eternal dharma-śāstra, establishing it as a guiding norm in the world.