Shloka 4

Vṛddha-kanyā-carita and Balarāma’s Kurukṣetra Inquiry (वृद्धकन्या-चरितम् / कुरुक्षेत्रफल-प्रश्नः)

Devanagari script

जनमेजय उवाच कथं द्वादशवार्षिक्यामनावृष्ट्यां द्विजोत्तमान्‌ । ऋषीनध्यापयामास पुरा सारस्वतो मुनि:,जनमेजयने पूछा--मुने! प्राचीनकालमें सारस्वत मुनिने बारह वर्षोकी अनावृष्टिके समय उत्तम ब्राह्मणोंको किस प्रकार वेदोंका अध्ययन कराया था?

Transliteration

Janamejaya uvāca: kathaṁ dvādaśavārṣikyām anāvṛṣṭyāṁ dvijottamān ṛṣīn adhyāpayām āsa purā Sārasvato muniḥ?

Translation

Janamejaya fragte: „O Weiser, wie vermochte es der Weise Sārasvata in alter Zeit, während einer zwölfjährigen Dürre die vornehmsten Brahmanen—jene Seher-Schüler—in den Veden zu unterweisen?“

Word by Word

जनमेजयःJanamejaya

उवाचsaid

कथम्how

द्वादश-वार्षिक्याम्in (the) twelve-year (period)

अनावृष्ट्याम्in drought / in absence of rain

द्विजोत्तमान्the best of the twice-born (excellent Brahmins)

ऋषीन्sages

अध्यापयामासcaused to study / taught

आमास(auxiliary in periphrastic perfect) did/indeed

पुराformerly, in ancient times

सारस्वतःSarasvata (connected with Sarasvatī)

मुनिःsage

Speaker

जनमेजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Janamejaya

Sārasvata Muni

Ṛ

Ṛṣis

Dvijottamas (foremost Brahmins)

Vedas

Anāvṛṣṭi (twelve-year drought)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the ethical importance of preserving Vedic knowledge and teaching lineage even amid severe societal crisis (a prolonged drought), implying that dharma includes sustaining learning and guidance when conditions are hardest.

What is happening in the narrative?

King Janamejaya asks the narrator-sage to explain an earlier episode: during a twelve-year drought, how the sage Sārasvata continued to teach the Vedas to eminent Brahmin seers.