Shloka 3
अध्याय ९५: चित्राङ्गदस्य गन्धर्वेण सह संग्रामः तथा विचित्रवीर्यस्य राज्याभिषेकः
Chitrāṅgada’s duel with the Gandharva and Vicitravīrya’s consecration
तेषां प्रथितवृत्तानां राज्ञां विज्ञानशालिनाम् । चरितं श्रोतुमिच्छामि विस्तरेण तपोधन,तपोधन! जो अपने सदाचारके लिये प्रसिद्ध और विवेकसम्पन्न थे, उन सभी पूरुवंशी राजाओंके चरित्रको मुझे विस्तारपूर्वक सुननेकी इच्छा है
teṣāṁ prathitavṛttānāṁ rājñāṁ vijñānaśālinām | caritaṁ śrotum icchāmi vistareṇa tapodhana ||
Janamejaya said: “O treasure of ascetic merit, I wish to hear in detail the life-stories of those kings of the Pūru lineage—renowned for their noble conduct and endowed with discerning wisdom.”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse elevates two royal ideals—good conduct (vṛtta) and discerning wisdom (vijñāna)—as the basis of a king’s lasting fame, and it frames ethical history as something to be learned through attentive listening to the accounts of exemplary rulers.
King Janamejaya requests the sage (addressed as tapodhana) to narrate, in expanded detail, the biographies and deeds of the celebrated kings of the Pūru lineage, setting up a genealogical and moral-historical recounting.