Shloka 17

Devanagari script

एते प्राधान्यतो नागा: कीर्तिता द्विजसत्तम । बहुत्वान्नामधेयानामितरे नानुकीर्तिता:,द्विजश्रेष्ठ! ये मुख्य-मुख्य नाग यहाँ बताये गये हैं। सर्पोंकी संख्या अधिक होनेसे उनके नाम भी बहुत हैं। अत: अन्य अप्रधान नागोंके नाम यहाँ नहीं कहे गये हैं

Transliteration

ete prādhānyato nāgāḥ kīrtitā dvijasattama | bahutvān nāmadheyānām itare nānukīrtitāḥ ||

Translation

Śaunaka said: “O best of twice-born sages, these Nāgas have been mentioned chiefly because of their prominence. Since the serpent clans are exceedingly numerous and their names are many, the remaining, less principal Nāgas have not been recounted here.”

Word by Word

एतेthese

प्राधान्यतःchiefly, by way of prominence

नागाःNāgas (serpents)

कीर्तिताःhave been mentioned/celebrated

द्विजसत्तमO best of the twice-born

बहुत्वात्because of the great number

नामधेयानाम्of names/appellations

इतरेthe others (remaining ones)

नnot

अनुकीर्तिताःhave not been recounted/mentioned in detail

Speaker

शौनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śaunaka

Nāgas

dvija (Brahmin sages)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a principle of responsible narration: when a subject is vast, a text may present only the principal representatives, acknowledging the limits of exhaustive listing while preserving the main line of tradition.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śaunaka addresses a learned listener, explaining that only the foremost Nāgas have been named so far; the rest are omitted because their numbers and names are too many for full enumeration at this point.