Shloka 42
Adhyaya 4 — Jaimini Meets the Dharmapakshis: Four Doubts on the Mahabharata and the Opening of Narayana Doctrine
प्रवक्ष्यामो मतं कृत्स्नं व्यासस्याद्भुतकर्मणः ।
येन भारतमुद्दिश्य धर्माद्याः प्रकटीकृताः ॥
pravakṣyāmo mataṃ kṛtsnaṃ vyāsasyādbhutakarmaṇaḥ |
yena bhāratam uddiśya dharmādyāḥ prakaṭīkṛtāḥ ||
Wir werden die gesamte Lehre (Absicht und Unterweisung) des Vyāsa, dessen Taten wundersam sind, vollständig darlegen—durch die, mit dem Mahābhārata als Ziel, Dharma und die übrigen menschlichen Zwecke offenbar gemacht wurden.
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FAQs
The verse frames the Mahābhārata as a deliberate vehicle for revealing dharma (and the allied aims/teachings). Ethically, it asserts that great narratives are not mere history but structured guidance for right conduct and human flourishing, with dharma placed first as the orienting principle.
This is primarily a framing, ‘śāstra-prayojana’ (statement of purpose) passage rather than a direct pancalakṣaṇa unit. Indirectly, it supports the Purāṇic function of teaching dharma alongside cosmological and genealogical materials; it is best classified as part of the Purana’s upodghāta (introductory matter) rather than sarga/pratisarga/vaṃśa/manvantara/vaṃśānucarita proper.
Vyāsa ‘of wondrous deeds’ symbolizes inspired transmission: the seer organizes vast, conflicted human experience (the Bhārata) into a clarified revelation of dharma and the higher aims. Esoterically, the ‘making manifest’ (prakaṭīkṛta) implies that dharma is not invented but unveiled—recognized through disciplined listening (śravaṇa) and reflection upon sacred narrative.