Mahabharata 1.116.3 — Adi Parva, Adhyaya 116, Shloka 3

Ādi-parva Adhyāya 116 — Pāṇḍu’s Transgression of the Curse and Mādrī’s Final Charge

Devanagari script

उक्ता महर्षिणा तेन व्यासेनामिततेजसा । कथं त्विदानीं भगवन्‌ कन्यां त्व॑ं तु ब्रवीषि मे

Transliteration

Janamejaya uvāca | uktā maharṣiṇā tena vyāsenāmitatejasā | kathaṃ tv idānīṃ bhagavan kanyāṃ tvaṃ tu bravīṣi me, anagha |

Translation

Janamejaya sagte: „O Ehrwürdiger, o sündloser Weiser—einst verkündete der große Seher Vyāsa von unermesslichem Glanz, die gandhārische Prinzessin werde den Segen von hundert Söhnen erhalten. Wie kommt es also, dass du mir nun sagst, es habe auch eine Tochter gegeben?“

Word by Word

• {'uktā': 'said, declared', 'maharṣiṇā': 'by the great seer', 'tena': 'by him

• by that (person previously mentioned)', 'vyāsena': 'by Vyāsa', 'amita-tejasā': 'of immeasurable splendor/energy', 'katham': 'how?', 'tu': 'but/then (contrast or emphasis)', 'idānīm': 'now, at this point', 'bhagavan': 'O venerable one

• revered sir', 'kanyām': 'a daughter, maiden', 'tvam': 'you', 'bravīṣi': 'you say, you tell', 'me': 'to me', 'anagha': 'O blameless one

Speaker

जनमेजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Janamejaya
• Vyāsa
• Gandhāra princess (Gāndhārī, implied)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights careful listening and critical inquiry in dharma-narratives: when a revered authority’s earlier statement seems to conflict with a later detail, the listener respectfully seeks clarification rather than assuming error.

What is happening in the narrative?

Janamejaya notices an apparent inconsistency: Vyāsa’s boon to the Gandhāra princess is remembered as ‘a hundred sons,’ yet the narrator has mentioned a daughter as well. He asks how both can be true.