Shloka 1
Arjuna’s request to Krishna and the opening of the Kāśyapa–Brāhmaṇa mokṣa discourse (Āśvamedhika-parva 16)
/ (अनुगीतापर्व) षोडशो<ध्याय: अर्जुनका श्रीकृष्णसे गीताका विषय पूछना और श्रीकृष्णका अर्जुनसे सिद्ध, महर्षि एवं काश्यपका संवाद सुनाना जनमेजय उवाच सभायां वसतोस्तत्र निहत्यारीन् महात्मनो: | केशवार्जुनयो: का नु कथा समभवद् द्विज,जनमेजयने पूछा--्रह्मन्! शत्रुओंका नाश करके जब महात्मा श्रीकृष्ण और अर्जुन सभाभवनमें रहने लगे, उन दिनों उन दोनोंमें क्या-क्या बातचीत हुई?
Janamejaya uvāca | sabhāyāṁ vasatos tatra nihatya ārīn mahātmanoḥ | keśavārjunayoḥ kā nu kathā samabhavad dvija ||
Janamejaya said: “O twice-born one, after those two great-souled heroes—Keśava and Arjuna—had slain their enemies and were residing there in the assembly hall, what conversation, indeed, arose between them?”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharmic inquiry: after victory and the destruction of enemies, what worthy discourse should guide conduct. It signals a turn from battlefield action to ethical reflection through dialogue.
King Janamejaya asks the narrator (addressed as dvija) to recount what Kṛṣṇa (Keśava) and Arjuna discussed while seated in the assembly hall after the enemies had been slain.