Shloka 4
Guru’s Instruction on Dream, Mind, Guṇas, and Knowing Brahman
Svapna–Manas–Guṇa–Brahma-vicāra
भीष्म उवाच पुराहं मृगयां यातो मार्कण्डेयाश्रमे स्थित: । तत्रापश्यं मुनिगणान् समासीनान् सहस्रश:
bhīṣma uvāca purāhaṁ mṛgayāṁ yāto mārkaṇḍeyāśrame sthitaḥ | tatrāpaśyaṁ munigaṇān samāsīnān sahasraśaḥ ||
بھیشم نے کہا—اے راجن! بہت پہلے کی بات ہے، میں شکار کے لیے جنگل گیا اور مہارشی مارکنڈے کے آشرم میں ٹھہرا۔ وہاں میں نے ہزاروں منیوں کو ایک ساتھ بیٹھا ہوا دیکھا۔
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse sets an ethical-narrative frame: a warrior-elder (Bhishma) recalls encountering a vast assembly of sages at a renowned hermitage, signaling that the forthcoming instruction is grounded in ascetic authority and dharma rather than mere royal power.
Bhishma begins a recollection addressed to the king: during a past hunting excursion he stayed at Markandeya’s hermitage and witnessed thousands of sages seated there, introducing the setting for the discourse that follows.