Shloka 9
अनुक्रमणिकाध्यायः (Anukramaṇikā Adhyāya) — Invocation, Narrator Frame, and Textual Scope
सौतिरुवाच जनमेजयस्य राजर्षे: सर्पसत्रे महात्मन:,उग्रश्रवाजीने कहा--महर्षियो! चक्रवर्ती सम्राट् महात्मा राजर्षि परीक्षित्-नन्दन जनमेजयके सर्पयज्ञमें उन्हींके पास वैशम्पायनने श्रीकृष्णद्वैपायन व्यासजीके द्वारा निर्मित परम पुण्यमयी चित्र-विचित्र अर्थसे युक्त महाभारतकी जो विविध कथाएँ विधिपूर्वक कही हैं, उन्हें सुनकर मैं आ रहा हूँ इति श्रीमन्न्महाभारते आदिपर्वणि अनुक्रमणिकापर्वणि प्रथमो<ध्याय: ।। १२ ।। इस प्रकार श्रीमह्ाभारत आदिपर्वके अन्तर्गत अनुक्रमाणिकापरबववमें पहला अध्याय पूरा हुआ
sautir uvāca | janamejayasya rājarṣeḥ sarpasatre mahātmanaḥ, ugrāśravā jine kathayām āsa—maharṣayaḥ! cakravartī samrāṭ mahātmā rājarṣi parīkṣit-nandana janamejayasya sarpayajñe tasyaiva samīpe vaiśampāyanena śrīkṛṣṇadvaipāyana-vyāsena nirmitaṃ parama-puṇyamayaṃ citra-vicitrārtha-yuktaṃ mahābhārataṃ yā vividhāḥ kathāḥ vidhi-pūrvakaṃ kathitāḥ, tāḥ śrutvāham āgato ’smi ||
Sauti said: “At the serpent-sacrifice of the great-souled royal sage Janamejaya, Ugraśravas addressed the seers: ‘O great Ṛṣis! I have just come after hearing, there at the very side of the emperor—Janamejaya, son of the royal sage Parīkṣit—the many narratives of the Mahābhārata, that supremely meritorious work composed by Śrī Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa, rich with wondrous and varied meanings, which Vaiśampāyana recited in due ritual order at the serpent-yajña.’”
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical authority of tradition: a sacred history gains legitimacy through proper lineage (Vyāsa → Vaiśampāyana → Sauti) and proper procedure (vidhi). It presents the Mahābhārata as puṇya-bearing—meant not merely to entertain but to refine judgment about dharma through many-layered meanings.
Sauti introduces himself to the assembled sages and explains his credentials: he has just come from Janamejaya’s serpent-sacrifice, where he heard Vaiśampāyana recite the Mahābhārata composed by Vyāsa. This establishes the frame-story and the chain of transmission for the epic’s narration.