Shloka 89

Devanagari script

राजन! नृपश्रेष्ठ अपने परम कल्याणकी इच्छा रखनेवाले श्रोताको महाभारतको सुनने तथा इसका पारायण करनेके लिये सदा प्रयत्नशील रहना चाहिये ।।

Transliteration

rājan nṛpaśreṣṭha ātmanaḥ parama-kalyāṇecchāṃ dhārayamāṇena śrotṛṇā mahābhārataṃ śrotuṃ tad-adhyetuṃ ca sadā yatnaśīlena bhavitavyam | bhārataṃ śṛṇuyān nityaṃ bhārataṃ parikīrtayet | bhārataṃ bhavane yasya tasya hastagato jayaḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „O König, der Beste unter den Herrschern: Wer als Hörer sein höchstes Heil begehrt, soll stets danach streben, das Mahābhārata zu vernehmen und es zu rezitieren. Man soll das Bhārata täglich hören und es auch verkünden. In wessen Haus das Bhārata gegenwärtig ist, dem liegt der Sieg gleichsam in der eigenen Hand.“

Word by Word

• भारतं: the Mahabharata
• भारतं: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: भारत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• शृणुयात्: should hear
• शृणुयात्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: श्रु (धातु)
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• नित्यं: always, daily
• नित्यं: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नित्य (प्रातिपदिक)

• भारतं: the Mahabharata
• भारतं: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: भारत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• परिकीर्तयेत्: should recite/proclaim
• परिकीर्तयेत्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: परि + कीर्तय् (धातु; causative of कीर्त्/कीर्)
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• भारतं: the Mahabharata
• भारतं: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भारत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• भवने: in (the) house
• भवने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भवन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• यस्य: of whom/whose
• यस्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• तस्य: of him/of that person
• तस्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• हस्तगतः: come into (his) hand; in his grasp
• हस्तगतः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हस्तगत (प्रातिपदिक; कृदन्त-आधारित विशेषण)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• जयः: victory
• जयः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: जय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• rājan (the king addressed)
• Mahābhārata (Bhārata)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that regular engagement with the Mahābhārata—hearing it and reciting it—is a sustained spiritual-ethical discipline aimed at one’s highest welfare (parama-kalyāṇa). Keeping the Bhārata in one’s home symbolizes continual access to dharma-guidance, which is said to bring ‘victory’—both practical success and moral triumph.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the closing portion of the Mahābhārata (Svargārohaṇa Parva), the narrator Vaiśampāyana addresses the king and concludes with a phalaśruti-like statement, praising the merit and benefit of listening to and reciting the epic, and asserting its auspicious power for those who preserve it in their household.