Shloka 8

Devanagari script

किमतः: पूर्वजं जन्म व्यासस्यामिततेजस: । कथयस्वोत्तममते जन्म नारायणोद्धवम्‌,श्रेष्ठ बुद्धिवाले मुनीश्वर! क्या अमिततेजस्वी व्यासजीका इससे पहले भी कोई जन्म हुआ था? नारायणसे व्यासजीका जन्म कब और कैसे हुआ? यह बतानेकी कृपा करें

Transliteration

kim ataḥ pūrvajaṁ janma vyāsasyāmitatejasaḥ | kathayasvottamamate janma nārāyaṇoddhavam, śreṣṭha buddhivāle munīśvara |

Translation

Janamejaya sprach: „Hatte der machtvoll strahlende Vyāsa vor diesem Dasein eine frühere Geburt? O du mit dem erhabensten Geist, sage mir: Wann und auf welche Weise ging Vyāsas Geburt aus Nārāyaṇa hervor? O höchster Weiser, mit vortrefflichem Verstand begabt, erkläre es gütig.“

Word by Word

किम्what?

अतःbefore this/earlier than this

पूर्वजम्former/previous-born

जन्मbirth

व्यासस्यof Vyasa

अमिततेजसःof (him) of immeasurable splendor

कथयस्वtell (me)

उत्तममतेO best-minded one

जन्मbirth

नारायणोद्भवम्arisen from Narayana

श्रेष्ठO excellent one

बुद्धिवालिन्O intelligent one

मुनीश्वरO lord of sages

Speaker

जनमेजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Janamejaya

Vyāsa

Nārāyaṇa

munīśvara (the sage being addressed)

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 models dhārmic inquiry: a king seeks the sacred genealogy and divine source of a revered sage, implying that understanding the origins of wisdom-teachers (ṛṣis) supports ethical orientation and faith in the transmission of dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Janamejaya questions the narrator-sage about Vyāsa’s earlier existence and requests a detailed account of how and when Vyāsa’s birth is said to have arisen from Nārāyaṇa, setting up a theological and genealogical explanation within Śānti Parva.