Shloka 3

Tapovana-praveśaḥ — The King’s Entry into the Sacred Grove and Vision of the Āśrama

Devanagari script

वैशम्पायन उवाच रहस्यं खल्विदं राजन्‌ देवानामिति न: श्रुतम्‌ । तत्तु ते कथयिष्यामि नमस्कृत्य स्वयम्भुवे,वैशम्पायनजीने कहा--राजन्‌! यह देवताओंका रहस्य है, ऐसा मैंने सुन रखा है। स्वयम्भू ब्रह्माजीको नमस्कार करके आज उसी रहस्यका तुमसे वर्णन करूँगा

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca: rahasyaṃ khalv idaṃ rājan devānām iti naḥ śrutam | tat tu te kathayiṣyāmi namaskṛtya svayambhuve ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “O King, we have heard that this is indeed a secret belonging to the gods. Having first bowed in reverence to Svayambhū (Brahmā), I shall now relate that very secret to you.”

Word by Word

• {'vaiśampāyana uvāca': 'Vaiśampāyana said', 'rahasyam': 'secret, esoteric matter', 'khalu': 'indeed, surely (emphatic particle)', 'idam': 'this', 'rājan': 'O king (vocative)', 'devānām': 'of the gods', 'iti': 'thus

• marking reported speech', 'naḥ': 'to us

• our', 'śrutam': 'heard

• received by tradition', 'tat': 'that', 'tu': 'but/indeed

• contrast or emphasis', 'te': 'to you', 'kathayiṣyāmi': 'I will narrate/tell', 'namaskṛtya': 'having saluted

• after paying homage', 'svayambhuve': 'to Svayambhū (Brahmā), the self-born (dative)'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• King (rājan)
• Devas (gods)
• Svayambhū (Brahmā)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Sacred or weighty knowledge should be approached with humility and reverence: the narrator signals that what follows is a divine ‘rahasya’ preserved by hearing (śruti-like tradition) and is to be transmitted responsibly after honoring the source (Brahmā).

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana addresses the king and announces that he will disclose an esoteric account known as a ‘secret of the gods,’ first offering obeisance to Svayambhū Brahmā, thereby framing the upcoming narration as authoritative and sacred.