Shakra and Shambara on Honouring Brahmins

Verse 1 (13.71.1)

अत्राप्युदाहरन्तीममितिहासं पुरातनम् । शक्रशम्बरसंवादं तन्निवोध युधिष्ठिर ॥

atrāpyudāharantīmamitihāsaṃ purātanam | śakraśambarasaṃvādaṃ tannivodha yudhiṣṭhira

On this subject too they recite an ancient tale, the conversation of Shakra and Shambara. Listen to it, Yudhishthira.

Verse 2 (13.71.2)

शक्रो ह्यज्ञातरूपेण जटी भूत्वा सुवारुणः । विप्ररूपं समास्थाय प्रश्नं पप्रच्छ शम्बरम् ॥

śakro hyajñātarūpeṇa jaṭī bhūtvā suvāruṇaḥ | viprarūpaṃ samāsthāya praśnaṃ papraccha śambaram

Shakra, unrecognised, became a matted-haired ascetic of deep ruddy hue, took the form of a brahmin, and put a question to Shambara.

Note on the text: Recension variants of CE 13.36.2 (CE: jaṭī bhūtvā rajoruṇaḥ … virūpaṃ rūpam āsthāya); सुवारुणः is kept as printed, though its sense ("deep ruddy") is uncertain.

Verse 3 (13.71.3)

केन शम्बर वृत्तेन स्वजात्यानधितिष्ठसि । श्रेष्ठं त्वां केन मन्यन्ते तद्वै प्रब्रूहि तत्त्वतः ॥

kena śambara vṛttena svajātyānadhitiṣṭhasi | śreṣṭhaṃ tvāṃ kena manyante tadvai prabrūhi tattvataḥ

By what conduct, Shambara, do you stand above your own kin? Why do they hold you foremost? Tell me that truly.

Note on the text: Speaker supplied: Shakra's own question, unheaded on the page (the page's heading is still Bhishma's from verse 1; the CE has no heading here either). Line 2 is a recension variant of CE 13.36.3c (CE: tan me prabrūhi pṛcchataḥ).

Verse 4 (13.71.4)

नासूयामि सदा विप्रान्ब्राह्ममेव च मे मतम् । शास्त्राणि वदतो विप्रान्संमन्यामि यथासुखम् ॥

nāsūyāmi sadā viprānbrāhmameva ca me matam | śāstrāṇi vadato viprānsaṃmanyāmi yathāsukham

I never bear ill will to brahmins, and the brahmins' way alone is my rule. When they speak the scriptures, I honour them with a ready heart.

Note on the text: Line 1 is a recension variant of CE 13.36.4a (CE: nāsūyāmi sadā viprān brahmāṇaṃ ca pitāmaham); kept.

Verse 5 (13.71.5)

श्रुत्वा च नावजानामि नापराध्यामि कर्हिचित् । अभ्यर्च्याभ्यनुपृच्छामि पादौ गृह्णामि धीमताम् ॥

śrutvā ca nāvajānāmi nāparādhyāmi karhicit | abhyarcyābhyanupṛcchāmi pādau gṛhṇāmi dhīmatām

Having listened, I never slight them and never offend them. I honour them, I question them, and I clasp the feet of the wise.

Verse 6 (13.71.6)

ते विस्रब्धाः प्रभाषन्ते संयच्छन्ति च मां सदा । प्रमत्तेष्वप्रमत्तोऽस्मि सदा सुप्तेषु जागृमि ॥

te visrabdhāḥ prabhāṣante saṃyacchanti ca māṃ sadā | pramatteṣvapramatto'smi sadā supteṣu jāgṛmi

They speak to me with trust and always guide me. I am watchful when others are careless, and awake when others sleep.

Verse 7 (13.71.7)

ते मां शास्त्रपथे युक्तं ब्रह्मण्यमनसूयकम् । समासिञ्चति शास्तारः क्षौद्रं मध्विव मक्षिकाः ॥

te māṃ śāstrapathe yuktaṃ brahmaṇyamanasūyakam | samāsiñcati śāstāraḥ kṣaudraṃ madhviva makṣikāḥ

Seeing me set on the path of the scriptures, devoted to brahmins and free from envy, those teachers pour their learning into me, as bees pour honey into the comb.

Verse 8 (13.71.8)

यच्च भाषन्ति संतुष्टास्तच्च गृह्णाम्यमायया । समाधिमात्मनो नित्यमनुलोममचिन्तयम् ॥

yacca bhāṣanti saṃtuṣṭāstacca gṛhṇāmyamāyayā | samādhimātmano nityamanulomamacintayam

Whatever they say when pleased, I take in without guile, always keeping my mind fixed on them in willing accord.

Note on the text: Recension variant of CE 13.36.8 (CE: yac ca bhāṣanti te tuṣṭās tat tad gṛhṇāmi medhayā); kept.

Verse 9 (13.71.9)

सोहं वागग्रमृष्टानां रसानामवलेहकः । स्वजात्यानधितिष्ठामि नक्षत्राणीव चन्द्रमाः ॥

sohaṃ vāgagramṛṣṭānāṃ rasānāmavalehakaḥ | svajātyānadhitiṣṭhāmi nakṣatrāṇīva candramāḥ

So I, a taster of the savours that come polished from the tips of their tongues, stand above my own kin as the moon above the stars.

Verse 10 (13.71.10)

एतत्पृथिव्याममृतमेतच्चक्षुरनुत्तमम् । यद्ब्राह्मणमुखाच्छास्त्रमिह श्रुत्वा प्रवर्तते ॥

etatpṛthivyāmamṛtametaccakṣuranuttamam | yadbrāhmaṇamukhācchāstramiha śrutvā pravartate

This is the nectar on earth, this the supreme eye: the teaching that goes forth into the world after being heard from the mouth of a brahmin.

Verse 11 (13.71.11)

एतत्कारणमाज्ञाय दृष्ट्वा देवासुरं पुरा । युद्धं पिता मे हृष्टात्मा विस्मितः समपद्यत ॥

etatkāraṇamājñāya dṛṣṭvā devāsuraṃ purā | yuddhaṃ pitā me hṛṣṭātmā vismitaḥ samapadyata

Knowing this to be the cause, and having once watched the war of gods and asuras, my father was filled with joy and wonder.

Verse 12 (13.71.12)

दृष्ट्वा च ब्राह्मणानां तु महिमानं महात्मनाम् । पर्यपृच्छत्कथममी सिद्धा इति निशाकरम् ॥

dṛṣṭvā ca brāhmaṇānāṃ tu mahimānaṃ mahātmanām | paryapṛcchatkathamamī siddhā iti niśākaram

Seeing the greatness of those great-souled brahmins, he asked the Moon, "How have these become accomplished?"

Note on the text: The CE adds a half-verse here, 13.36.12d*0282_01 (sa pṛṣṭas tān uvācedaṃ siddhāṃs tatra niśākaraḥ), which Wikisource lacks; not added.

Verse 13 (13.71.13)

ब्राह्मणास्तपसा सर्वे सिध्यन्ते वाग्बलाः सदा । भुजवीर्याश्च राजानो वागस्त्राश्च द्विजातयः ॥

brāhmaṇāstapasā sarve sidhyante vāgbalāḥ sadā | bhujavīryāśca rājāno vāgastrāśca dvijātayaḥ

All brahmins succeed through austerity, and their strength is ever in speech. Kings have the strength of their arms; the twice-born have words for their weapons.

Verse 14 (13.71.14)

प्रवसन्वाप्यधीयीत ब्राह्मीर्दुर्वसतीर्वसन् । निर्मन्युरपि निर्वाणो यतिः स्यात्समदर्शनः ॥

pravasanvāpyadhīyīta brāhmīrdurvasatīrvasan | nirmanyurapi nirvāṇo yatiḥ syātsamadarśanaḥ

Even living abroad, enduring the hard lodgings of Vedic study, he should keep on studying. Free of anger and calm, he should be a self-controlled ascetic who sees all alike.

Note on the text: Recension variants of CE 13.36.14 (CE: bahvīr durvasatīr vasan … nirmānaḥ); kept.

Verse 15 (13.71.15)

अपि च ज्ञानसम्पन्नः सर्वान्वेदान्पितुर्गृहे । श्लाघमान इवाधीयाद्ग्राम्य इत्येव तं विदुः ॥

api ca jñānasampannaḥ sarvānvedānpiturgṛhe | ślāghamāna ivādhīyādgrāmya ityeva taṃ viduḥ

A man rich in knowledge who studies all the Vedas in his father's house, as though boasting of it, is known as a villager.

Note on the text: Line 1 is a recension variant of CE 13.36.15a (CE: jātisaṃpannaḥ); kept.

Verse 16 (13.71.16)

भूमिरेतौ निगिरति सर्पो बिलशयानिव । राजानं चाप्ययोद्धारं ब्राह्मणं चाप्रवासिनम् ॥

bhūmiretau nigirati sarpo bilaśayāniva | rājānaṃ cāpyayoddhāraṃ brāhmaṇaṃ cāpravāsinam

The earth swallows these two, as a snake swallows creatures lying in a hole: the king who does not fight, and the brahmin who does not travel.

Verse 17 (13.71.17)

अभिमानः श्रियं हन्ति पुरुषस्याल्पमेधसः । गर्भेण दुष्यते कन्या गृहवासेन च द्विजः ॥

abhimānaḥ śriyaṃ hanti puruṣasyālpamedhasaḥ | garbheṇa duṣyate kanyā gṛhavāsena ca dvijaḥ

Pride destroys the fortune of a man of small understanding. A girl is spoiled by pregnancy, and a twice-born by staying at home.

Note on the text: Line 1 is a recension variant of CE 13.36.17a (CE: atimānaḥ śriyaṃ hanti); kept.

Verse 18 (13.71.18)

विद्याविदो लोकविदस्तपोदमसमन्विताः । नित्यपूज्याश्च वन्द्याश्च द्विजा लोकद्वयेच्छुभिः ॥

vidyāvido lokavidastapodamasamanvitāḥ | nityapūjyāśca vandyāśca dvijā lokadvayecchubhiḥ

Brahmins who know sacred learning and know the world, and who are endowed with austerity and self-control, are always to be honoured and revered by those who wish for good in both worlds.

Note on the text: Removed the stray opening backtick by which Wikisource marks this as an addition (the page has no closing quote). Not in the critical edition's constituted text: CE star passage 13.36.17d*0283_01-02 (vidyāvido lokavidas tapodamasamanvitāḥ / nityaṃ pūjyāś ca vandyāś ca dvijā lokadvayecchubhiḥ).

Verse 19 (13.71.19)

इत्येतन्मे पिता श्रुत्वा सोमादद्भुतदर्शनात् । ब्राह्मणान्पूजयामास तथैवाहं महाव्रतान् ॥

ityetanme pitā śrutvā somādadbhutadarśanāt | brāhmaṇānpūjayāmāsa tathaivāhaṃ mahāvratān

Having heard this from Soma of the wondrous appearance, my father honoured the brahmins, and so do I, those men of great vows.

Note on the text: Speaker corrected to Shambara: the closing words of Shambara's reply, unheaded on the page (the preceding heading is Soma's from verse 13, but the verse is Shambara's own conclusion, "my father … and so do I"; the CE reads it as Shambara's as well).

Verse 20 (13.71.20)

श्रुत्वैतद्वचनं शक्रो दानवेन्द्रमुखाच्च्युतम् । द्विजान्सम्पूजयामास महेन्द्रत्वमवाप च ॥

śrutvaitadvacanaṃ śakro dānavendramukhāccyutam | dvijānsampūjayāmāsa mahendratvamavāpa ca

Hearing these words that fell from the lips of the lord of the danavas, Shakra honoured the twice-born, and attained the lordship of Indra.

Note on the text: Corrected संम्पूजयामास → सम्पूजयामास (misprint in Wikisource; doubled nasal, CE saṃpūjayām āsa).