Shloka 47

एकान्तिधर्म-प्रश्नः (Inquiry into Ekāntin Dharma) / The Origin and Practice of Single-Pointed Nārāyaṇa-Centered Discipline

Devanagari script

युष्मत्कृतमिदं शास्त्र प्रजापालो वसुस्तत: । बृहस्पतिसकाशाद्‌ वै प्राप्स्यते द्विजसत्तमा:

Transliteration

yuṣmatkṛtam idaṃ śāstraṃ prajā-pālo vasus tataḥ | bṛhaspati-sakāśād vai prāpsyate dvija-sattamāḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: “Bộ śāstra này do các ngươi soạn ra, về sau Vasu—đấng hộ dân—sẽ thọ nhận từ Bṛhaspati. Hỡi các bậc tối thắng trong hàng nhị sinh, nhờ vậy nó sẽ đi vào dòng truyền thừa của lời dạy có thẩm quyền dành cho bậc quân vương, đặt nền vương quyền trên dharma qua sự truyền giảng của bậc học giả.”

Word by Word

• {'yuṣmat-kṛtam': 'made/composed by you (plural honorific)', 'idam': 'this', 'śāstram': 'treatise

• normative text', 'prajā-pālaḥ': 'protector of subjects

• ruler/king charged with welfare', 'vasuḥ': 'Vasu (a proper name

• here a king associated with righteous rule)', 'tataḥ': 'then

• from that point', 'bṛhaspati-sakāśāt': 'from the presence/side of Bṛhaspati

• from Bṛhaspati', 'vai': 'indeed

• emphatic particle', 'prāpsyate': 'will obtain

• will come to acquire', 'dvija-sattamāḥ': 'O best among the twice-born (address to eminent brāhmaṇas)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Vasu
• Bṛhaspati
• dvija-sattamāḥ (eminent brāhmaṇas)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

That righteous governance (rājadharma) depends on śāstra received through a legitimate lineage of teachers; a king should learn and rule by dharma as transmitted by authoritative sages.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma describes how a śāstra composed by learned brāhmaṇas will later be obtained by King Vasu from Bṛhaspati, indicating the spread and authoritative adoption of the teaching for the guidance of rulers.