Shloka 121

धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)

Devanagari script

सूर्यानुगामिभिस्तात ऋषिभिस्तैर्महात्मभि:

Transliteration

sūryānugāmibhis tāta ṛṣibhis tair mahātmabhiḥ

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“孩子啊，正是由那些追随太阳行程的大魂仙人们（所传）。”

Word by Word

• सूर्यानुगामिभिः: by/with (those) following the sun
• सूर्यानुगामिभिः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सूर्यानुगामिन्
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• तात: O dear one / O son
• तात: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: तात
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• ऋषिभिः: by/with sages
• ऋषिभिः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: ऋषि
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• तैः: by/with those
• तैः: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• महात्मभिः: by/with great-souled ones
• महात्मभिः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महात्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• the Sun (Sūrya)
• ṛṣis (sages)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line highlights the authority and sanctity of great sages whose conduct is aligned with the Sun’s course—symbolically, with cosmic order (ṛta/dharma). It suggests that dharmic practice is validated by those who live in harmony with the rhythms of the cosmos.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma, in instruction to his listener (addressed affectionately as “tāta”), refers to a group of noble sages characterized as “followers of the Sun,” using them as authoritative witnesses or exemplars within his ongoing discourse in the Śānti Parva.