Mahabharata · Chapter 12.362
dharmāḥ pitāmahenoktā mokṣadharmāśritāḥ śubhāḥ /
dharmamāśramiṇāṃ śreṣṭhaṃ vaktumarhati me bhavān //
bhīṣma uvāca /
sarvatra vihito dharmaḥ satyaḥ satyaphalodayaḥ /
bahudvārasya dharmasya nehāsti viphalā kriyā //
yasminyasmiṃśca viṣaye yo yo yāti viniścayam /
sa tamevābhijānāti nānyaṃ bharatasattama //
imāṃ ca tvaṃ naravyāghra śrotumarhasi me kathām /
purā śakrasya kathitāṃ nāradena maharṣiṇā //
maharṣirnārado rājansiddhastrailokyasammataḥ /
paryeti kramaśo lokānvāyuravyāhato yathā //
sa kadācinmaheṣvāsa devarājālayaṃ gataḥ /
satkṛtaśca mahendreṇa pratyāsannagato'bhavat //
taṃ kṛtakṣaṇamāsīnaṃ paryapṛcchacchattīpatiḥ /
maharṣe kiñcidāścaryamasti dṛṣṭaṃ tvayā'nagha //
dṛṣṭameva hi viprarṣe trailokyaṃ sacarācaram /
jātakautūhalo nityaṃ siddhaścarasi sākṣivat //
na hyastyaviditaṃ loke devarṣe tava kiñcana /
śrutaṃ vā'pyanubhūtaṃ vā dṛṣṭaṃ vā kathayasva me //
tasmai rājansurendrāya nārado vadatāṃvaraḥ /
āsīnāyopapannāya proktavānvipulāṃ kathām //
yathā yena ca kalpena sa tasmai dvijasattamaḥ /
kathāṃ kathitavānpṛṣṭastathā tvamapi me śṛṇu //
Original text: Mahābhārata (southern recension) · Edition: Śrīman Mahābhāratam, ed. T. R. Krishnacharya and T. R. Vyasacharya, Nirnaya Sagar Press, Bombay 1906–1910; e-text by SARIT (Shrinivasa Varakhedi and others) · SARIT: Search and Retrieval of Indic Texts · SARIT (e-text) via Internet Archive · CC BY-SA 3.0