Shloka 56

पञ्चवर्णोत्पत्तिः — The Origin of the Five-Colored Fiery Being and Ritual-Disruptor Lineages

Devanagari script

कथं च फलमाप्रोति तेषां धर्मभूतां वर । एतदिच्छामि तत्त्वेन धर्म ज्ञातुं निबोध मे,धर्मात्माओंमें श्रेष्ठ व्याध! उन इन्द्रियोंके निग्रहका फल कैसे प्राप्त होता है? मैं इस इन्द्रिय-निग्रहरूपी धर्मको यथार्थरूपसे जानना चाहता हूँ। तुम मुझे समझाओ

Transliteration

kathaṃ ca phalam āpnoti teṣāṃ dharmabhūtāṃ vara | etad icchāmi tattvena dharmaṃ jñātuṃ nibodha me ||

Translation

Bà-la-môn nói: “Hỡi bậc thượng trong hàng người có đức, làm sao người ta thực sự đạt được quả của kỷ luật là chế ngự các căn? Ta muốn hiểu đúng bản chất của pháp tự chế này. Xin hãy dạy và khiến ta thấu triệt.”

Word by Word

कथम्how?

चand

फलम्fruit, result

आप्नोतिattains, obtains

तेषाम्of them

धर्मभूतानाम्of those who are righteous / who have become dharma-like

वरO excellent one

एतत्this

इच्छामिI wish, desire

तत्त्वेनin truth, truly, according to reality

धर्मम्dharma, righteous duty/principle

ज्ञातुम्to know

निबोधunderstand; listen (to me)

मेto me / for me

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

ब

ब्राह्मण (the brāhmaṇa speaker)

व

व्याध (the hunter, addressed indirectly as 'vara')

इ

इन्द्रिय-निग्रह (restraint of the senses, as the topic)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a key ethical inquiry: sense-restraint (indriya-nigraha) is treated as dharma, and the brāhmaṇa asks how its ‘fruit’ is attained. The emphasis is that self-control is not merely a technique but a moral-spiritual discipline whose true nature and results must be understood correctly (tattvena).

What is happening in the narrative?

In a teacher–student style dialogue, the brāhmaṇa addresses a figure regarded as ‘best among the righteous’ (vara)—in this episode, the vyādha (hunter) known for dharmic insight—and requests a clear explanation of how the practice of restraining the senses yields its proper result.