Shloka 54

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

Devanagari script

उत्पन्ने5ड्विरसे चैव युगे प्रथमकल्पिते । साज़्रोपनिषदं शास्त्र स्थापयित्वा बृहस्पती

Transliteration

utpanne ’dvirase caiva yuge prathama-kalpite | sāṅgropaniṣadaṃ śāstraṃ sthāpayitvā bṛhaspatiḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: Trong thời đại sơ khai nhất, khi trật tự đầu tiên của yuga vừa được thiết lập, Bṛhaspati đã dựng nên giáo pháp có thẩm quyền—đầy đủ các bộ trợ học và cả Upaniṣad—để tri kiến thiêng liêng đứng vững trên nền tảng kiên cố. Nhờ vậy, chuẩn mực của dharma được truyền bá, và các cõi thế gian được giữ trong giới hạn của trật tự đạo lý.

Word by Word

• उत्पन्ने: when (it was) arisen/occurred
• उत्पन्ने: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उत्पन्न (उत्+√पद्/√पद् → उत्पद्यते; कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• अद्विरसे: in the (age) without hostility/without enmity (lit. non-two-juiced; epithet of early yuga)
• अद्विरसे: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अद्विरस (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• युगे: in the age (yuga)
• युगे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: युग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• प्रथमकल्पिते: in the first-ordained/first-arranged (age)
• प्रथमकल्पिते: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रथमकल्पित (प्रथम + कल्पित; कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• साङ्गोपनिषदम्: together with the Vedāṅgas and the Upaniṣads
• साङ्गोपनिषदम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: साङ्गोपनिषद (स-अङ्ग-उपनिषद्; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• शास्त्रम्: treatise/teaching
• शास्त्रम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शास्त्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• स्थापयित्वा: having established
• Type: Verb
• Root: √स्था (स्थापयति; causative) + त्वा
• Form: Absolutive (Gerund)

• बृहस्पतिः: Bṛhaspati
• बृहस्पतिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: बृहस्पति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Bṛhaspati
• Yuga
• Upaniṣads
• Śāstra
• Vedāṅgas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma is sustained by properly established śāstra—sacred instruction grounded in the Vedic tradition (with its auxiliaries and Upaniṣadic insight). When authoritative knowledge is set in place, moral order can be taught and society (the worlds) can be kept within ethical boundaries.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma describes an early cosmic period in which Bṛhaspati functions as a primordial teacher: he establishes and transmits a comprehensive body of sacred teaching (śāstra) connected with the Upaniṣads and supporting disciplines, enabling the later spread and stabilization of dharma.