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

婆罗门说道：“噢，诸持法者中最胜者，如何才能真实获得那以制御诸根为本的修行之果？我愿如实了知这自制之法（达摩）。请教导我，使我明了。”

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.