Shloka 22

भिक्षुलक्षणम्—एकचर्याः, अहिंसा, कैवल्याश्रमः

Marks of the Mendicant: Solitary Wandering, Non-Injury, and the Kaivalya-Discipline

Devanagari script

ब्रह्माज्ञानप्रतिष्ठं हि त॑ देवा ब्राह्मणं विदु: । शब्दब्रह्मणि निष्णातं परे च कृतनिश्चयम्‌

Transliteration

brahmajñānapratiṣṭhaṃ hi taṃ devā brāhmaṇaṃ viduḥ | śabdabrahmaṇi niṣṇātaṃ pare ca kṛtaniścayam ||

Translation

เหล่าเทพย่อมรู้จักผู้นั้นว่าเป็นพราหมณ์แท้ ผู้ตั้งมั่นในพรหมญาณ—ผู้ชำนาญในศัพทพรหม (พระเวท) และได้บรรลุความแน่ชัดมั่นคงในปรพรหมอันสูงสุด

Word by Word

ब्रह्माज्ञानप्रतिष्ठम्established in Brahman and (free from) ignorance

हिindeed/for

तम्him/that (one)

देवाःthe gods

ब्राह्मणम्a brahmin

विदुःknow/recognize

शब्दब्रह्मणिin the Vedic word-Brahman (Veda)

निष्णातम्well-versed/fully trained

परेin the supreme (Brahman/ultimate reality)

चand

कृतनिश्चयम्one who has made a firm resolve/ascertained (the truth)

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

Devāḥ (the gods)

Brāhmaṇa

Śabdabrahma (Veda)

Para (the Supreme/Brahman)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A true brāhmaṇa is defined by inner grounding in Brahman-knowledge and by competence in śabdabrahma (Vedic revelation), together with firm conviction in the Supreme—uniting learning with realized certainty.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the didactic setting of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa states a criterion for brahminhood: the gods themselves acknowledge as a brāhmaṇa the person who combines deep Vedic mastery with settled realization of the highest truth.