Shloka 2

Gaṅgā-māhātmya: Siddha–Śilavṛtti-saṃvāda and Gaṅgā-stava (गङ्गामाहात्म्यं—सिद्ध-शिलवृत्ति-संवादः)

Devanagari script

भीष्म उवाच व्यासमामन्त्रय राजेन्द्र पुरा यत्‌ पृष्टवानहम्‌ । तत्ते5हं सम्प्रवक्ष्यामि तदिहैकमना: शृणु

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca: vyāsam āmantrya rājendra purā yat pṛṣṭavān aham | tat te 'haṃ sampravakṣyāmi tad ihaikamanāḥ śṛṇu ||

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: „O König der Könige! Vor langer Zeit ließ ich Vyāsa rufen und stellte ihm eine Frage. Nun will ich dir eben diese Angelegenheit berichten; höre hier mit einspitzigem Geist.“

Word by Word

• {'bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', 'vyāsam': 'Vyasa (the sage Vyasa), accusative singular', 'āmantrya': 'having summoned, having invited (absolutive)', 'rājendra': 'O best of kings, O king among kings (vocative)', 'purā': 'formerly, in earlier times', 'yat': 'which, what (relative pronoun referring to the question/matter)', 'pṛṣṭavān': 'asked (perfect participle, masculine singular)', 'aham': 'I', 'tat': 'that (the same matter/answer)', 'te': 'to you', 'sampravakṣyāmi': 'I will fully explain / I will recount in detail (future)', 'iha': 'here, in this context/occasion', 'eka-manāḥ': 'single-minded, attentive, concentrated', 'śṛṇu': 'listen (imperative)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Vyasa
• Yudhishthira

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes disciplined reception of dharma-teaching: authoritative knowledge is transmitted through a remembered dialogue with a sage, and the listener is urged to hear with focused attention.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma addresses Yudhishthira and introduces a teaching he once received from Vyasa. He signals that he will now recount that earlier question-and-answer and asks the king to listen attentively.