Brāhmaṇa Praśaṃsā in the Anuśāsana Parva

In the Anuśāsana Parva of the Mahābhārata, Yudhiṣṭhira asks Bhīṣma whom one should honour, and how one should behave toward those who are worthy. In reply, Bhīṣma gives a long praśaṃsā (song of praise) of the brāhmaṇa varṇa, the class of Veda-teachers and ritual experts. He calls brāhmaṇas the dharma-setu, the bridge of dharma on which all four varṇas (social orders) stand. They are the keepers of tapas (austerity) and of vāc (sacred speech and mantra). He compares them to Agni, the sacred fire, which stays holy even when it burns untended in a cremation ground.

This teaching leads directly into the itihāsa (ancient account) that follows: the Pavana-Arjuna-Saṃvāda, the dialogue between Vāyu and Kārtavīrya Arjuna.

Yudhiṣṭhira’s Question

Yudhiṣṭhira asked Bhīṣma: Who is pūjya (worthy of worship)? Who deserves namaskāra (respectful greeting)? Toward whom should one’s ācāra (right conduct) never fail?

Bhīṣma answered without any doubt. To insult brāhmaṇas brings ruin even upon the devas, but one who bows to brāhmaṇas never comes to ruin. Brāhmaṇas are worthy of worship and of namaskāra. A kṣatriya (member of the ruling and warrior class) should treat them just as a son treats his own father, because these great-minded (mahābuddhi) beings hold up all the worlds.

Bhīṣma’s Praise

Bhīṣma’s praise moves through a rich series of images:

  • Brāhmaṇas are known for their tyāga (giving up) of wealth and their perfect control over vāk (speech). They are the great dharma-setus (bridges of dharma) of all the worlds: the structure by which the four varṇas cross from one state to another.
  • They are like a nidhi (treasure) to all beings. They are devoted to vrata (sacred vows). They are mārgadarśakas (those who show the way) for both the worlds and the śāstras (sacred teachings), and they have great yaśas (fame).
  • Their lasting wealth is tapas; their great strength is speech alone. They are the janma-sthāna (birthplace) of dharmas, knowers of dharma, and subtle in understanding.
  • Their desire (kāma) and their steadiness rest in dharma alone. Through their puṇya-karmas (meritorious deeds) they themselves become bridges of dharma, and all four jātis live by taking refuge in them.
  • They are the paths that lead to the goal, the leaders of all, the performers of yajña (fire offering), and the very mūrti (living form) of eternal values. They carry the heaviest of inherited burdens: the duties handed down from father and grandfather.
  • Some brāhmaṇas, like good oxen under a load, never slip from this burden. Their havya (offerings to the devas) and kavya (offerings to the ancestors) are eaten first by the devas, the pitṛs (ancestors) and the atithis (guests). By this eating alone, the three worlds are shielded from mahā-bhaya (great fear).
  • They are the dīpa (lamp) of all the lokas (worlds), the eye of those who have eyes, and the śikṣaka (teacher) of all. Their wealth is the Veda itself. They are the darśana (vision) that reveals mokṣa (liberation).
  • They know the gati (path and destiny) of all beings. They meditate constantly on adhyātma (the inner Self). They know the ādi, madhya and anta (beginning, middle and end) of things, and the difference between para and apara (the higher and the lower). They travel the paramagati (the highest path).
  • They are free from the bandha (bondage) of rāga (attachment). They have shaken off pāpa (wrongdoing). They are not moved by dvandvas (pairs of opposites such as heat and cold, pleasure and pain). They take nothing by parigraha (piling up possessions). For this reason they always deserve the world’s respect.
  • They look on fragrant sandal-paste and filth, food and the lack of it, bark garments and silk, with the same even mind.
  • They can go many days without food, training their bodies through vedādhyayana (study of the Veda) and indriya-nigraha (control of the senses).
  • If they are provoked to anger, they can turn what is divine into what is not divine, and what is not divine into what is divine. They can create whole new lokas and lokapālas (guardians of the worlds). It was by the anger of such mahātmās (great souls) that the ocean itself became apeya (undrinkable). Their kopāgni (fire of anger) still smoulders even now in the Daṇḍaka forest.
  • They are devas among devas: the kāraṇa (cause) of causes and the pramāṇa (authority) of authorities. No one with good sense would try to belittle them.
  • Among brāhmaṇas, young or old, every single one is worthy of honour, though they rank one another by tapas and vidyā (learning).
  • A brāhmaṇa, even an unlearned one, is a deva; a learned one is a deva to an even greater degree, a full ocean of merit. Whether paṇḍita (learned) or apaṇḍita (unlearned), the brāhmaṇa is mahā-daivata, a great divinity. In the same way, Agni is a great divinity whether or not it has been kindled with the full rite. Agni does not lose its rank by lying unlit in a cremation ground; it only shines more brightly when it is properly fed with havis (offerings) in a well-ordered yajña-gṛha (hall of sacrifice).
  • Bhīṣma ends: even if a brāhmaṇa does every kind of unwelcome karma, he remains sarvathā mānya, worthy of honour in every way, and is to be regarded as parama-daiva, the supreme divinity.

Leading into the Itihāsa

Yudhiṣṭhira then pressed Bhīṣma further. What phala (fruit), what result of karma, did Bhīṣma himself see that led him to honour brāhmaṇas so faithfully?

In reply, Bhīṣma introduced a purātana itihāsa, an ancient account: the Pavana-Arjuna-Saṃvāda. This is the dialogue between Vāyu and King Kārtavīrya Arjuna of the Haihaya line, ruler of Māhiṣmatī. In it, Vāyu answers this very question through a series of itihāsas that show brāhmaṇa-māhātmya, the greatness of brāhmaṇas.

Sources

  • Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 151
  • Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 152