Shloka 41

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

Devanagari script

यथा प्रमाणं हि मया कृतो बह्मा प्रसादत: । रुद्रश्न क्रोधजो विप्रा यूयं प्रकृतयस्तथा

Transliteration

yathā pramāṇaṃ hi mayā kṛto brahmā prasādataḥ | rudraś ca krodhajo viprā yūyaṃ prakṛtayas tathā ||

Translation

భీష్ముడు పలికెను—బ్రహ్మ అనుగ్రహముచే నన్ను ప్రమాణముగా, యథామానముగా చేసినట్లే, క్రోధజుడైన రుద్రుడు కూడా ప్రాదుర్భవించాడు. అలాగే, ఓ బ్రాహ్మణులారా, మీరు కూడ మీ మీ స్వభావప్రకృతుల ప్రకారమే నిర్మితులై ఉన్నారు.

Word by Word

यथाas, just as

प्रमाणम्measure; standard; authority

हिindeed, for

मयाby me

कृतःmade, created, done

ब्रह्माBrahmā (the creator)

प्रसादतःfrom (his) grace/favor

रुद्रःRudra (Śiva)

चand

क्रोधजःborn of anger

विप्राःO brāhmaṇas

यूयम्you (pl.)

प्रकृतयःnatures; constituents; beings of such nature

तथाso, likewise

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Brahmā

Rudra

Viprāḥ (brāhmaṇas)

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?

The verse emphasizes that beings and their roles arise according to originating causes and innate dispositions (prakṛti): some are established by grace and order (pramāṇa through Brahmā’s favor), while others arise from intense passions like anger (Rudra as krodhaja). Ethically, it points to understanding one’s nature and the causal roots of conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma, instructing the listeners (addressed as viprāḥ), draws a cosmological analogy: he contrasts what is established through Brahmā’s favor with what is generated from wrath (Rudra), and then applies the comparison to the audience—stating that they too are formed according to their inherent constitutions.