Shloka 41
भारतस्येतिहासस्य श्रूयतां पर्वसंग्रह: । पर्वनुक्रमणी पूर्व द्वितीय: पर्वसंग्रह:,यह महाभारत इतिहास ज्ञानका भण्डार है। इसमें सूक्ष्म-से-सूक्ष्म पदार्थ और उनका अनुभव करानेवाली युक्तियाँ भरी हुई हैं। इसका एक-एक पद और पर्व आश्चर्यजनक है तथा यह वेदोंके धर्ममय अर्थसे अलंकृत है। अब इसके पर्वोकी संग्रह-सूची सुनिये। पहले अध्यायमें पर्वानुक्रमणी है और दूसरेमें पर्वसंग्रह
bhāratasya itihāsasya śrūyatāṃ parvasaṅgrahaḥ | parvānukramaṇī pūrvaṃ dvitīyaḥ parvasaṅgrahaḥ ||
Hear now the compendium of the sections (parvans) of the Bhārata epic. First comes the “Table of Contents of the Parvans” (Parvānukramaṇī), and second is the “Summary of the Parvans” (Parvasaṅgraha).
राम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames the Mahābhārata as an itihāsa to be systematically studied: understanding begins with knowing the epic’s structure—its parvans, their order, and their summaries—so that the narrative and its dharmic meanings can be grasped coherently.
The speaker transitions into an outline of the Mahābhārata’s contents, announcing that the audience should listen to the compilation of parvans, specifying that the first topic is the parvan index (Parvānukramaṇī) and the second is the parvan summary (Parvasaṅgraha).