Shloka 21
Adhyaya 1 — Jaimini’s Questions on the Mahabharata and the Origin of the Wise Birds
पिङ्गाक्षश्च विबोधश्च सुपुत्रः सुमुखस्तथा ।
द्रोणपुत्राः खगश्रेष्ठास्तत्त्वज्ञाः शास्त्रचिन्तकाः ॥
piṅgākṣaś ca vibodhaś ca suputraḥ sumukhas tathā |
droṇaputrāḥ khagaśreṣṭhās tattvajñāḥ śāstracintakāḥ ||
又有平伽阿克沙与毗菩陀、苏补特罗以及苏穆迦——皆为德罗那之子——为群鸟中之杰，知真谛者，亦为观修诸《沙斯特拉》者。
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FAQs
The verse establishes an ideal of wisdom: true excellence (even in non-human forms like birds) is defined by tattva-jñāna (insight into reality) and sustained śāstra-cintana (scriptural reflection). It signals that authority in the coming discourse rests on knowledge and contemplation, not merely status or species.
Indirectly supportive rather than a direct pancalakṣaṇa unit. It functions as framing apparatus for instruction (upodghāta) and sets up the speakers/authorities through whom dharma and cosmological material may be transmitted; it is not itself sarga/pratisarga/manvantara/vaṃśa/vaṃśānucarita content.
The 'best of birds' motif points to a symbolic inversion: higher knowledge can manifest in unexpected vessels. Birds—often linked with freedom of movement and elevated vision—become emblems of detached insight (dṛṣṭi) and discrimination (viveka), suggesting that realization is marked by perspective and śāstric discernment.