Shloka 62

धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)

Devanagari script

अहंकारकृतं चैव नाम पर्यायवाचकम्‌ । त्वया कृतां च मर्यादां नातिक्रंस्पति कश्नन,(वे वरदान इस प्रकार हैं--) “ब्रह्मन! तुम प्रत्येक कल्पके आदिदमें मेरे पुत्ररूपसे उत्पन्न होओगे। तुम्हें लोकाध्यक्षका पद प्राप्त होगा। तुम्हारा पर्यायवाची नाम होगा, अहंकारकर्ता। तुम्हारी बाँधी हुई मर्यादाका कोई उल्लंघन नहीं करेगा

Transliteration

ahaṅkārakṛtaṃ caiva nāma paryāyavācakam | tvayā kṛtāṃ ca maryādāṃ nātikraṃsyati kaścana ||

Translation

अहंकारकृतं चैव नाम पर्यायवाचकम् । त्वया कृतां च मर्यादां नातिक्रामति कश्चन ॥

Word by Word

• {'ahaṅkāra': 'ego, sense of ‘I’-ness, self-conceit', 'kṛtam / kṛta': 'made, fashioned

• established', 'ahaṅkārakṛtam': 'that which is made by ego

• (as a name) ‘maker/producer of ego’', 'caiva': 'and indeed, and also', 'nāma': 'name', 'paryāya-vācakam': 'synonymous designation

• a name that is an epithet/alternate term', 'tvayā': 'by you', 'maryādā': 'boundary, limit, rule, established order/constraint', 'na': 'not', 'atikraṃsyati': 'will overstep, will transgress', 'kaścana': 'anyone whatsoever'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes the inviolability of rightful limits (maryādā) established by legitimate authority, and it links a being’s function/identity to the principle of ahaṅkāra (ego), suggesting that names and roles can encode ethical and metaphysical functions.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is recounting a boon (varadāna) in which the recipient is assigned an epithet (‘Ahaṅkārakṛt’) and is assured that the order or boundary he sets will not be violated by anyone.