Shloka 8

Deva–Asura–Gandharva–Nāga Vaṃśa-kathana

Genealogies and Partial Descents

Devanagari script

मन:सागरसम्भूतां महर्षेर्भावितात्मन: । कथयस्व सतां श्रेष्ठ सर्वरत्नमयीमिमाम्‌,यह कथा पवित्र अन्तःकरणवाले महर्षि वेद-व्यासके हृदयरूपी समुद्रसे प्रकट हुए सब प्रकारके शुभ विचाररूपी रत्नोंसे परिपूर्ण है। साधुशिरोमणे! आप इस कथाको मुझे सुनाइये

Transliteration

manaḥ-sāgara-sambhūtāṃ maharṣer bhāvitātmanaḥ | kathayasva satāṃ śreṣṭha sarva-ratna-mayīm imām ||

Translation

O best among the virtuous, please recount this sacred narrative—born from the ocean-like mind and heart of the great seer, whose inner self is purified and disciplined. It is filled with every kind of auspicious thought, like a treasury of jewels; therefore, tell it to me, for it sanctifies the inner being.

Word by Word

• {'manaḥ': 'mind, inner faculty of thought', 'sāgara': 'ocean, vast reservoir', 'sambhūtā': 'arisen from, originated', 'maharṣi': 'great seer', 'bhāvitātmā': 'one whose self is cultivated/purified

• disciplined in spirit', 'kathayasva': 'please narrate

• tell (imperative, respectful request)', 'satām': 'of the good/virtuous', 'śreṣṭha': 'best, foremost', 'sarva': 'all, every', 'ratna': 'jewel

• figuratively, precious virtues/insights', 'mayī': 'consisting of

• filled with', 'imām': 'this (feminine accusative), referring to the kathā'}

Speaker

शौनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śaunaka
• Mahārṣi (implicitly Vyāsa in the prose gloss)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Sacred history and dharmic instruction should be received from the virtuous and transmitted as a means of inner purification; true teaching is portrayed as arising from a seer’s disciplined, purified consciousness and containing many ‘jewel-like’ auspicious insights.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śaunaka respectfully requests the foremost among the virtuous to narrate a holy account, praising it as a jewel-filled story that has arisen from the vast, ocean-like mind/heart of a great seer (understood in context as Vyāsa) and that purifies the listener’s inner faculty.