Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 30
Dāna-Śreṣṭhatā: Abhaya, Anugraha, and the Ethics of Honoring the Worthy (दानश्रेष्ठता: अभय-अनुग्रह-विप्रपूजा)
एवमेतद् यथा<<वत्थ व्वं ब्राद्मण्यं तात दुर्लभम् | ब्राह्मणे सति चर्षित्वमृषित्वे च तपस्विता
evam etad yathāttha tvaṁ brāhmaṇyaṁ tāta durlabham | brāhmaṇe sati ca ṛṣitvam ṛṣitve ca tapasvitā ||
Wika ni Cyavana: “Gaya ng sinabi mo, mahal kong anak: ang tunay na pagiging brāhmaṇa ay mahirap makamtan. At kahit brāhmaṇa na, ang maging isang ṛṣi ay lalo pang bihira; at kahit ṛṣi na, ang maging tunay na mapagpakasakit at may mahigpit na pagpipigil-sa-sarili ay mas bihira pa.”
च्यवन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse ranks spiritual qualifications: brahminhood is rare, but true sagehood is rarer, and authentic austerity and self-mastery are rarer still—implying that ethical-spiritual excellence is measured by realized discipline, not merely by status.
Cyavana responds approvingly to the listener’s earlier remark about the link between tapas (austerity) and brāhmaṇatva (brahminhood), affirming that these attainments are progressively difficult and therefore especially worthy of reverence.