Shloka 2
आदि पर्व, अध्याय 67 — गान्धर्वविवाह-समयः
Duḥṣanta–Śakuntalā: Gandharva Marriage and Succession Condition
सर्वेषां चैव भूतानां सम्भवं भगवन्नहम् । श्रोतुमिच्छामि तत्त्वेन मानुषेषु महात्मनाम् । जन्म कर्म च भूतानामेतेषामनुपूर्वश:
sarveṣāṃ caiva bhūtānāṃ sambhavaṃ bhagavann aham | śrotum icchāmi tattvena mānuṣeṣu mahātmanām | janma karma ca bhūtānām eteṣām anupūrvaśaḥ ||
Janamejaya said: “O venerable one, I wish to hear, in accordance with the truth, the origin of all beings—especially of the great-souled among men. Tell me, in proper sequence, the births and the deeds of these beings.”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharmic mode of learning: truthful inquiry (tattvena) into origins and into karma. It implies that understanding noble human lives requires seeing both their birth (lineage/conditions) and their actions (ethical choices), presented in orderly sequence (anupūrvaśaḥ).
King Janamejaya addresses a revered narrator and requests a systematic account of how beings arise, with special focus on the great-souled humans—asking to hear their births and deeds in proper chronological order.