Shloka 1
Takṣaka’s agency, Parīkṣit’s rites, and Janamejaya’s enthronement (वैयासिक परम्परा-प्रसङ्गः)
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्या भारत आदिपर्वके अन्तर्गत आस्तीकपर्वर्में जरत्कारु मुनिका अन्वेषणविषयक उनतालीसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ ॥/ ३९ ॥। 3: --ऋऋ्- चत्वारिशो< ध्याय: जरत्कारुकी तपस्या, राजा परीक्षित्॒का उपाख्यान तथा राजाद्वारा मुनिके कंधेपर साँप रखनेके कारण दु:खी हुए कृशका १ |गीको उत्तेजित करना शौनक उवाच जरत्कारुरिति ख्यातो यस्त्वया सूतनन्दन । इच्छामि तदहं श्रोतुं ऋषेस्तस्य महात्मन:,शौनकजीने पूछा--सूतनन्दन! आपने जिन जरत्कारु ऋषिका नाम लिया है, उन महात्मा मुनिके सम्बन्धमें मैं यह सुनना चाहता हूँ कि पृथ्वीपर उनका जरत्कारु नाम क्यों प्रसिद्ध हुआ? जरत्कारु शब्दकी व्युत्पत्ति क्या है? यह आप ठीक-ठीक बतानेकी कृपा करें
śaunaka uvāca | jaratkārur iti khyāto yas tvayā sūtanandana | icchāmi tad ahaṃ śrotuṃ ṛṣes tasya mahātmanaḥ |
Śaunaka said: “O Sūta’s son, you have mentioned a sage renowned by the name Jaratkāru. I wish to hear about that great-souled seer—why he became famous on earth by the name ‘Jaratkāru’, and what the derivation and meaning of that word is.”
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse models a classical dharmic method of learning: respectful inquiry into names and meanings. In the Mahābhārata, etymology is not mere wordplay; it is treated as a doorway into a person’s story, character, and the moral causality that shapes events.
In the Naimiṣa forest dialogue-frame, Śaunaka asks the narrator Sauti to explain who the sage Jaratkāru is and why he is known by that name, requesting the word’s derivation and significance as the story moves into Jaratkāru’s episode within the Āstīka-related narrative.