Shloka 1
अध्याय १२८: शिव–उमा संवादः — तिलोत्तमा, श्मशान-मेध्यता, तथा चातुर्वर्ण्य-धर्मः
Chapter 128: Śiva–Umā Dialogue—Tilottamā, the Ritual Valence of the Śmaśāna, and the Fourfold Duty-Code
(दाक्षिणात्य अधिक पाठके ३ ३ श्लोक मिलाकर कुल २५३ “लोक हैं) शीसस्नश्शास्स | भ्निध्ॉप्राध्य चतुर्विशत्यधिकशततमो< ध्याय: नारदका पुण्डरीकको भगवान् नारायणकी आराधनाका उपदेश तथा उन्हें भगवद्धामकी प्राप्ति
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
sāmni cāpi pradāne ca jyāyaḥ kiṃ bhavato matam |
brūhi bharataśreṣṭha yad atra vyatiricyate ||
Yudhiṣṭhira thưa: “Hỡi bậc ưu tú nhất trong dòng Bharata, theo ý kiến của ngài, điều nào cao hơn—sāman (hòa giải, dàn xếp) hay dāna (bố thí, ban tặng)? Xin nói cho ta biết điều nào trội hơn trong việc này.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical and practical inquiry in statecraft: when seeking to achieve an end (especially in governance or dispute), which method is preferable—winning others through conciliation (sāman) or through giving/concessions (dāna)? It invites a nuanced hierarchy of means rather than assuming force as the default.
Within the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction-focused dialogue, Yudhiṣṭhira asks an elder authority (addressed as ‘best of the Bharatas’) to compare two classical diplomatic strategies—sāman and dāna—and to state which is superior in the given context.