Shloka 139
Varṇa-dharma and Rājadharma: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Normative Outline (वर्णधर्म-राजधर्म-प्रश्नोत्तरम्)
आगममश्न पुराणानां महर्षीणां च सम्भव: । तीर्थवंशश्व॒ वंशश्व नक्षत्राणां युधिष्ठिर
āgamam aśna purāṇānāṁ maharṣīṇāṁ ca sambhavaḥ | tīrthavaṁśaś ca vaṁśaś ca nakṣatrāṇāṁ yudhiṣṭhira ||
毗湿摩说道：“尤提士提罗啊，诸《往世书》（Purāṇa）的权威传承，大圣仙（maharṣi）之起源，与圣地渡口（tīrtha）相连的诸族系，以及诸星宿（nakṣatra）的谱系与次第——这一切都已阐明。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma underscores that dharma and nīti are supported by a broad sacred knowledge-system: authoritative tradition (āgama), Purāṇic memory, the exemplary origins of seers, the sanctity and lineages of tīrthas, and the cosmic ordering of nakṣatras. Ethical life and governance are thus linked to inherited wisdom and the structure of the world.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs King Yudhiṣṭhira after the war. Here he is listing domains of traditional knowledge that have been (or are being) expounded—Purāṇas, seer-origins, tīrtha traditions, and nakṣatra genealogies—framing the instruction as comprehensive and rooted in sacred precedent.