Shloka 43

कपिलगोसंवादे गृहस्थ-त्यागधर्मयोः प्रमाण्यविचारः

Kapila–Cow Dialogue: Authority of Householder and Renunciant Dharmas

Devanagari script

वाराणस्यां महाप्राज्ञस्तुलाधार: प्रतिष्ठित: । सोअप्येवं नाते वक्तुं यथा त्वं भाषसे द्विज

Transliteration

Vārāṇasyāṃ mahāprājñas tulādhāraḥ pratiṣṭhitaḥ | so 'py evaṃ nāta vaktuṃ yathā tvaṃ bhāṣase dvija ||

Translation

Sinabi ni Bhishma: “Sa Varanasi ay may naninirahang isang lubhang marunong na lalaki na ang pangalan ay Tulādhāra, matatag na nakaugat sa dharma. Maging siya man ay hindi magsasalita sa paraang gaya ng iyong pagsasalita, O dalawang-ulit na isinilang.” (Sa gayon, pinagsabihan ng tinig mula sa langit si Jājali: itinatama ang kanyang pag-aangkin sa dharma sa pamamagitan ng pagturo sa kanya sa isang tunay na huwaran—si Tulādhāra—na ang karunungan ay nakikilala sa pagpipigil at kababaang-loob, hindi sa pagmamataas.)

Word by Word

• {'Vārāṇasyām': 'in Vārāṇasī (Benares/Kāśī), locative singular', 'mahāprājñaḥ': 'greatly wise, profoundly discerning', 'tulādhāraḥ': 'Tulādhāra (proper name

• also literally ‘holder of the balance/scale’, suggesting a merchant/weigher)', 'pratiṣṭhitaḥ': 'established, firmly situated (in a place or in dharma)', 'saḥ api': 'even he', 'evaṃ': 'thus, in this way', 'na': 'not', 'ata': 'indeed/at all (emphatic particle

• in context strengthening the negation)', 'vaktum': 'to speak', 'yathā': 'as, in the way that', 'tvam': 'you', 'bhāṣase': 'you speak', 'dvija': 'O twice-born (address to a brāhmaṇa)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Tulādhāra
• Jājali
• Vārāṇasī (Kāśī)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True dharma is shown through grounded wisdom and restraint in speech, not through proud or exaggerated claims. The verse undercuts self-assured moral posturing by pointing to a genuinely wise exemplar who would not speak arrogantly.

What is happening in the narrative?

A heavenly voice addresses Jājali, telling him that in Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) lives the great sage-like merchant Tulādhāra, and that even Tulādhāra would not speak as Jājali is speaking—thereby directing Jājali toward correction and further instruction.