Shloka 14
Duḥṣanta at Kaṇva-Āśrama; Śakuntalā’s Reception and Origin Prelude (दुःषन्तस्य कण्वाश्रमागमनम्)
अदित्यां द्वादशादित्या: सम्भूता भुवने श्वरा: । ये राजन् नामतत्तांस्ते कीर्तयिष्यामि भारत,अदितिके पुत्र बारह आदित्य हुए, जो लोकेश्वर हैं। भरतवंशी नरेश! उन सबके नाम तुम्हें बता रहा हूँ---
adityāṁ dvādaśādityāḥ sambhūtā bhuvaneśvarāḥ | ye rājan nāmataḥ tāṁs te kīrtayiṣyāmi bhārata ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “From Aditi were born the twelve Ādityas, sovereign lords of the world. O king, O descendant of Bharata, I shall now recount their names to you.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames sacred knowledge as orderly transmission: the narrator promises a precise naming of cosmic rulers (the Ādityas), emphasizing the importance of lineage, classification, and faithful recounting in dharmic tradition.
Vaiśampāyana transitions into a genealogical/cosmological list: he states that Aditi bore twelve Ādityas who are ‘lords of the world’ and tells the king (a Bhārata) that he will now enumerate their names.