Shloka 2
Tapovana-praveśaḥ — The King’s Entry into the Sacred Grove and Vision of the Āśrama
यदर्थमिह सम्भूता देवकल्पा महारथा: । भुवि तन्मे महाभाग सम्यगाख्यातुमरहसि,महाभाग! वे देवतुल्य महारथी इस पृथ्वीपर जिस उद्देश्यकी सिद्धिके लिये उत्पन्न हुए थे, उसका यथावत् वर्णन कीजिये
Janamejaya uvāca: yadartham iha sambhūtā devakalpā mahārathāḥ | bhuvi tan me mahābhāga samyag ākhyātum arhasi ||
Janamejaya said: “O noble one, for what purpose were these great chariot-warriors—godlike in prowess—born here upon the earth? Please relate to me, in full and in proper order, the true aim for which their incarnation was brought about.”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames history as purposive: extraordinary beings arise on earth for a specific end, and the listener should seek the underlying dharmic rationale rather than seeing events as random.
King Janamejaya asks the narrator (addressed as “mahābhāga”) to explain the true purpose behind the earthly birth of the godlike great warriors, setting up a causal account of the epic’s central events.