Shloka 2

Devanagari script

निर्णये वा महाबुद्धे सर्वधर्मविदां वर । प्रत्यक्षमागमो वेति कि तयो: कारणं भवेत्‌

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca: nirṇaye vā mahābuddhe sarvadharmavidāṃ vara | pratyakṣam āgamo veti kiṃ tayoḥ kāraṇaṃ bhavet ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana nói: “Bậc đại trí, đệ nhất trong những người am tường dharma! Khi cần phân xử một vấn đề về dharma, nên nương vào chứng cứ của trực giác trực nghiệm (pratyakṣa) hay vào truyền thống thẩm quyền (āgama)? Trong hai điều ấy, điều nào là nền tảng quyết định để xác lập kết luận giáo lý?”

Word by Word

• निर्णये: in (the matter of) decision/determination
• निर्णये: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: निर्णय
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• वा: or
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा

• महाबुद्धे: O great-intellect (one)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाबुद्धि
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• सर्वधर्मविदाम्: of all knowers of dharma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्वधर्मविद्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• वर: O best/excellent (one)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वर
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• प्रत्यक्षम्: direct perception (as a pramāṇa)
• प्रत्यक्षम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रत्यक्ष
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• आगमः: scriptural testimony/tradition (āgama)
• आगमः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: आगम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वा: or
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा

• इति: thus (quotative)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

• किम्: what? which?
• किम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: किम्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• तयोः: of the two (of them)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Dual

• कारणम्: cause/decisive ground
• कारणम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कारण
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• भवेत्: would be / should be
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Pitāmaha (Bhīṣma, implied addressee)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a foundational inquiry in dharma-discourse: when ethical or religious conclusions are disputed, what counts as the primary pramāṇa (means of valid knowledge)—direct perception (pratyakṣa) or authoritative tradition/scripture (āgama)?

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana reports a question addressed to the Pitāmaha (Bhīṣma) in the Anuśāsana context: the interlocutor seeks guidance on how to adjudicate dharma—by what is directly seen/experienced or by what is transmitted as authoritative teaching.