तद् वाक्यसमकालं तु कृतं सर्वम् अवेदयत् ॥
सहदेवो युधां श्रेष्ठो धर्मराजे महात्मनि ॥
ततो द्वैपायनो राजन्न् ऋत्विजः समुपानयत् ॥
वेदान् इव महाभागान् साक्षान् मूर्तिमतो द्विजान् ॥
स्वयं ब्रह्मत्वम् अकरोत् तस्य सत्यवतीसुतः ॥
धनंजयानाम् ऋषभः सुसामा सामगो ऽभवत् ॥
tad vākyasamakālaṃ tu kṛtaṃ sarvam avedayat ||
sahadevo yudhāṃ śreṣṭho dharmarāje mahātmani ||
tato dvaipāyano rājann ṛtvijaḥ samupānayat ||
vedān iva mahābhāgān sākṣān mūrtimato dvijān ||
svayaṃ brahmatvam akarot tasya satyavatīsutaḥ ||
dhanaṃjayānām ṛṣabhaḥ susāmā sāmago 'bhavat ||
At the very moment the king spoke, Sahadeva, best of warriors, announced to the great-souled Dharmaraja: "Everything is done." Then Dvaipayana [Vyasa], O king, brought the ritviks — those brahmins, like the most fortunate Vedas embodied visibly. The son of Satyavati himself took up the office of Brahman priest at that sacrifice; Susaman, bull of the line of the Dhananjayas, became the chanter of the saman.
f6141a3bf85a · published Jul 16, 2026, 3:28:51 PM UTC
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The priests are brought "like the Vedas embodied visibly," and the office of Brahman priest is taken by Vyasa himself, the compiler of the Vedas. It is telling that the greatest of rites demands the greatest of officiants: where the highest sacrifice is offered, there stand the highest among the knowers. The verse teaches that the sacred is not entrusted to random hands — it is performed by those in whom Revelation itself lives. Vyasa's presence at its head lends the sacrifice its fullness: where the one presiding is the embodied knowledge of the Vedas, the rite will not stray from truth. The worth of a deed is proven by the worth of those who perform it.