ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
बाण: कार्तस्वरो वल्लिविश्वदंष्टो5थ नैऋति: | संकोचो<5थ वरीताक्षो वराहाश्वो रुचिप्रभ:
bāṇaḥ kārtasvaro valliviśvadaṃṣṭo ’tha nairṛtiḥ | saṃkoco ’tha varītākṣo varāhāśvo ruciprabhāḥ ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “(Ito ang) mga pangalan—Bāṇa, Kārtasvara, Valli-viśvadaṃṣṭa, at Nairṛti; gayundin sina Saṃkoca, Varītākṣa, Varāhāśva, at Ruciprabhā.” Sa bahaging ito, ipinagpapatuloy ni Bhīṣma ang pormal na paglalatag ng mga tiyak na pangalan, pinangangalagaan ang tradisyon ng tumpak na pagtukoy sa pagtuturo ng dharma—kung saan ang wastong pagkilala at pag-alaala sa mga pangalang ito ay itinuturing na bahagi ng disiplinadong kaalaman at kaayusang ritwal-etikal.
भीष्म उवाच
The verse functions as part of a dharma-style transmission where exact naming and orderly listing are treated as a form of disciplined knowledge—supporting remembrance, classification, and the integrity of the tradition being taught.
Bhīṣma is continuing an enumerative passage, reciting a sequence of specific names/epithets. The verse is not argumentative but catalogic, preserving a received list within his instruction in the Śānti Parva.