Shloka 31

Adhyāya 32: Tāpasānāṃ Darśanaṃ — Ascetics Seek to Identify the Pāṇḍavas

Devanagari script

आस्तिका: श्रद्धधानाश्न धृतिमन्तश्न मानवा: । श्रुत्वा$5श्चर्यमिदं पर्व हवाप्स्यन्ति परां गतिम्‌

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca: āstikāḥ śraddadhānāś ca dhṛtimantaś ca mānavāḥ | śrutvāścaryam idaṁ parva hy avāpsyanti parāṁ gatim, Bhārata ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: Those men who are theistic, full of faith, and steadfast in resolve—having heard this wondrous section of the Bhārata—will attain the highest state.

Word by Word

• {'Vaiśampāyana uvāca': 'Vaiśampāyana said', 'āstikāḥ': 'believers in the reality of dharma/afterlife

• theistic, affirming', 'śraddadhānāḥ': 'faithful

• those who place trust (in teaching and practice)', 'dhṛtimantaḥ': 'endowed with dhṛti

• steady, patient, resolute', 'mānavāḥ': 'human beings

• men', 'śrutvā': 'having heard

• by listening', 'āścaryam': 'marvelous, wondrous, extraordinary', 'idam': 'this', 'parva': 'section/book (of the Mahābhārata)', 'hi': 'indeed, surely', 'avāpsyanti': 'they will obtain, attain', 'parām gatim': 'the supreme goal/state

• highest destiny', 'Bhārata': 'O descendant of Bharata

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Bhārata (Janamejaya as addressee)
• parva (this section of the Mahābhārata)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Faithful and steady-minded listening to a dharmic narrative is itself a spiritual discipline; those who hear this parva with śraddhā and dhṛti are said to attain the highest good (parā gati).

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, continuing his recitation to Janamejaya, concludes with a phalaśruti-style statement: he declares the spiritual fruit of hearing this ‘wondrous’ section of the epic.