Shloka 21

Atithi-prāpti and the Brāhmaṇa’s Deliberation on Triadic Dharma (अतिथिप्राप्तिः धर्मत्रयविचारश्च)

Devanagari script

शौचाचारसमायुक्तान्‌ जितक्रोधान्‌ जितेन्द्रियान्‌ । वेदानध्यापयामास महाभारतपञ्चमान्‌

Transliteration

śaucācārasamāyuktān jitakrodhān jitendriyān | vedān adhyāpayāmāsa mahābhāratapañcamān ||

Translation

వైశంపాయనుడు పలికెను—శౌచమూ సదాచారమూ కలిగి, క్రోధాన్ని జయించి, ఇంద్రియాలను వశపరచుకున్న వారైన ఆ శిష్యులకు ఆయన వేదాలను బోధించెను—మహాభారతాన్ని ఐదవ వేదముగా భావించి.

Word by Word

शौचाचारसमायुक्तान्endowed with purity and good conduct

जितक्रोधान्having conquered anger

जितेन्द्रियान्having conquered the senses; self-controlled

वेदान्the Vedas

अध्यापयामासcaused to study; taught

महाभारतपञ्चमान्as the fifth—together with the Mahabharata (i.e., the Vedas with the Mahabharata as fifth)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Vedas

Mahābhārata

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True learning is grounded in character: purity (śauca), right conduct (ācāra), mastery over anger, and control of the senses qualify a student to receive sacred instruction. Knowledge is presented as inseparable from ethical discipline.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana reports that a teacher instructed worthy, self-controlled students in the Vedas, and also taught the Mahābhārata as an additional authoritative body of dharma-teaching—figuratively ‘the fifth’ alongside the Vedas.