Shloka 4

Virāṭanagara-nivāsa-nirṇaya

Decision to Reside in Virāṭa’s City

Devanagari script

वैशम्पायन उवाच यथा विराटनगरे तव पूर्वपितामहा: । अज्ञातवासमुषितास्तच्छूणुष्व नराधिप

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | yathā virāṭanagare tava pūrvapitāmahāḥ | ajñātavāsam uṣitās tac chṛṇuṣva narādhipa ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „O König, höre, wie ich berichte, auf welche Weise deine Vorfahren ihre Zeit der Verborgenheit in der Stadt Virāṭa vollendeten.“

Word by Word

• वैशम्पायनः: Vaishampayana
• वैशम्पायनः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वैशम्पायन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• उवाच: said
• उवाच: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Perfect, Third, Singular

• यथा: as, in the manner that
• यथा: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• विराटनगरॆ: in the city of Virata
• विराटनगरॆ: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: विराटनगर
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• तव: of you, your
• तव: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: —, Genitive, Singular

• पूर्वपितामहाः: the forefathers (great-grandfathers/ancestors)
• पूर्वपितामहाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पूर्वपितामह
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• अज्ञातवासम्: the incognito residence (period of concealment)
• अज्ञातवासम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अज्ञातवास
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• उषिताः: having dwelt, having stayed
• उषिताः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: वस्
• Form: क्त (past participle, used as adjective), Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• तत्: that (account/that matter)
• तत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• शृणुष्व: listen
• शृणुष्व: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: श्रु
• Form: Imperative, Second, Singular

• नराधिप: O king (lord of men)
• नराधिप: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: नराधिप
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Virāṭa (place/kingdom)
• Virāṭanagara (city of Virāṭa)
• Narādhipa (the king addressed, i.e., Janamejaya in the frame narrative)
• Pūrvapitāmahāḥ (ancestors/forefathers; contextually the Pāṇḍavas)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even under pressure and vulnerability, one should uphold dharma through self-control, discretion, and faithful observance of vows—here, the vow of living incognito without revealing one’s identity.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator Vaiśampāyana addresses the king and introduces the account of how the Pāṇḍavas (referred to as the listener’s forefathers) completed their period of concealment in Virāṭa’s city, setting up the events of the Virāṭa Parva.