Shloka 22
Nāga–Nāgabhāryā Saṃvāda: Varṇa-Dharma, Gṛhastha-Discipline, and Mokṣa-Self-Inquiry
Mahābhārata 12.347
नास्ति मत्तोडधिक: ककश्षित् को वान्यो<र्च्यो मया स्वयम् । को वा मम पिता लोके अहमेव पितामह:
nāsti matto ’dhikaḥ kaścit ko vānyo ’rcyo mayā svayam | ko vā mama pitā loke aham eva pitāmahaḥ ||
Wika ni Nārada: “Walang sinumang higit sa akin. Kung gayon, sino pa ang dapat kong sambahin sa sarili kong kamay? At sino sa daigdig ang maaaring maging ama ko? Ako lamang ang Dakilang Ninuno.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the danger of unchecked ego: claiming unsurpassed greatness and self-sufficiency erodes humility and dharmic conduct. It functions as a caution that self-worship and denial of any higher authority lead to ethical blindness.
Nārada speaks in a tone of absolute self-exaltation—asserting no one is above him, that he has no one to worship, and that he is the ultimate ancestor. In context, such a declaration typically serves to expose or critique arrogance as part of a broader moral instruction in Śānti Parva.