Shloka 129
समन्तपञ्चक-आख्यानम् तथा अक्षौहिणी-प्रमाणनिर्णयः
Samantapañcaka Narrative and the Measure of an Akṣauhiṇī
महर्षेमन्दपालस्य शार्ड्र्या तनयसम्भव: । इत्येतदादिपर्वोक्त प्रथमं बहुविस्तरम्,इसके बाद महर्षि मन्दपालका शार्ड्ी पक्षीके गर्भसे पुत्र उत्पन्न करनेकी कथा है। इस प्रकार इस अत्यन्त विस्तृत आदिपर्वका सबसे प्रथम निरूपण हुआ है
maharṣer mandapālasya śārḍryā tanaya-sambhavaḥ | ity etad ādi-parvoktaṃ prathamaṃ bahu-vistaram |
“This is the first, very expansive account related in the Ādi Parva: the story of how the great sage Mandapāla had sons born from Śārḍrī (the bird).” The verse serves as a narrative marker, signaling the transition to the episode of Mandapāla and the birth of his offspring, and underscoring the breadth of the Ādi Parva’s opening exposition.
राम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse primarily serves as a structural cue rather than a direct moral injunction: it highlights how the Mahābhārata’s Ādi Parva begins with wide-ranging, detailed origins and lineages, preparing the reader to see later events as rooted in earlier causes and relationships.
The text signals that the next major episode concerns the sage Mandapāla and the birth of his sons through Śārḍrī, a bird, presenting this as part of the Ādi Parva’s first extensive exposition.